


Burning For You

by ashtraythief



Series: fire 'verse [1]
Category: CW Network RPF, Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alpha/Beta, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Animal Death, Knotting, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Minor Character Death, Public Claiming, Ritual Public Sex, Self-Lubrication, Violence, Werewolf Sex, alpha!Jensen, mentions of mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-05
Updated: 2013-07-06
Packaged: 2017-12-17 18:35:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/870702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashtraythief/pseuds/ashtraythief
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jared is the Alpha’s son and everyone is waiting for his first heat. All the alphas want to mate with the beautiful beta of the Padalecki pack but they have to enter the competition to fight for the right to claim him. Jared only wants Jensen, but the most feared alpha in all of Texas has never shown any interest in him, no matter how hard he flirted with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Smolder

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this amazing prompt](http://spnkink-meme.livejournal.com/64212.html?thread=20149460#t20149460) at the [spnkink_meme](http://spnkink-meme.livejournal.com/).

 

The leering looks were following Jared around all the time now. Wherever he went, be it school, the park or the woods, every unmated alpha was drooling after him when he walked by.

As it should be.

Jared continued to walk, or rather sashay down Main Street. Their were-only town wasn’t big, only about five hundred people lived here, but with the rest of the pack sprawled out over little clusters of houses in the surrounding area, the Padalecki pack could hold its own.

Jared’s father was a respected alpha and his brother Jeff would be a worthy successor. There had been a few territorial disputes recently, now that Gerald was older and his heir-apparent still untested, but Jeff had quickly wiped out all doubts about his abilities. Together with his best friend and lieutenant they had defeated all intruders in a quick and vicious fashion.

Jeff garnered a reputation for being a smart strategist, while the rest of the were-community in Texas spoke in hushed tones about Jensen Ackles, the new fighter among the Padalecki pack, whose combative skills were unparalleled and who took no prisoners. With Jeff and Jensen to lead the defenses of their territory the other packs had quickly backed off. Gerald had even been able to renegotiate some of the borders which gave the pack access to a beautiful lake.

Now that the fighting was over, the new topic of conversation was Jared. Jared and when his first heat would finally set in.

He had turned seventeen in the summer and now that the leaves were starting to fall and the summer had passed, the people were watching him for the first signs of his first heat. After all, the Alpha’s son going into heat was a big deal.

Jared reveled in the attention and ever since he had found out that he could make the alphas lust after him, stumble over their own legs and words when he threw them a smile, or gasp and stutter when he wiggled his ass, he had made it his goal to make them all go crazy for him. Since he could never fool around with any of them – he had to remain untouched until he was claimed by his mate – that was the only fun he could get. And fun it was.

Jared threw an oncoming alpha his best sultry smile, the one where his lips were shiny with spit and he was demurely and invitingly looking up through his lashes. He had to suppress his laughter when the guy’s head followed him and he almost stumbled over a fire-hydrant on the road.

Yes, they all wanted him and even though the big fight wouldn’t be held until his first heat would come, quite a few scuffles had broken out in the last year, since Jared had shot up almost three inches overnight and had lost all his remaining baby-fat, instead becoming tall and slender with coltish grace.

There had been a few complaints by members of the pack about his improper behavior, but most of them had been from jealous betas and old prudes. Jared couldn’t care less and his father clearly didn’t have the heart to tell him to tone it down.

So it was all good. His life was good. He was young and beautiful, every beta wanted to be him and every alpha wanted to have him. His heat was still a long way off, Jared just knew, he had months left to play. And when it would finally come, all the alphas would compete for him and only the last one standing, the strongest and the best would be allowed to mate with Jared.

 

Laughter pulled Jared out of his musings and drew his eyes across the street. Jeff and Jensen had just come out of the little diner and apparently Jared’s brother had said something funny, because Jensen had his head thrown back, laughing from deep within his belly, a rich, beautiful sound, the afternoon sun playing on his short hair and Jared was once again reminded that it all didn’t really matter. All the alphas lusting and panting after him meant nothing as long as Jensen wasn’t the one to win him as his mate.

There was no doubt in Jared’s mind that Jensen would win the fight, if he participated. IF.

Because as much as he tried, no matter how hard he flirted with Jensen, how often he showed him exactly what he could have, Jensen never gave so much as a single sign of being affected by Jared.

It had driven Jared crazy, he’d even gone so far as to eat a Popsicle in front of Jensen, but nothing. The last time Jensen had come over to their house, Jared had been so desperate, he had pretended to search for his lost phone. He had crawled around the floor on all fours, giving Jensen a preview of what he could win if he entered the fight and then Jared had proceeded to look under the couch, sinking down on his shoulders, so he could get his head and arms under the couch but keeping his ass up in the air.

It was a blatant imitation of the ritual presentation and Jared had thought he had heard a strangled groan behind him. But when he stood up again, face flushed and heart beating faster – because he thought he had finally cracked Jensen – the other were’s face was completely relaxed, maybe even a little bit amused and not a hint of arousal visible. Jared had been so disappointed he had practically fled the room.

After that, Jared had doubled his efforts with the other weres, telling himself that Jensen didn’t matter, he would get someone who was crazy for him and he would live happily ever after.

Jared snorted and turned away from Jeff and Jensen. He started heading for Chad’s house, the only place where he ever dropped the facade of the confident seductor.

 

Chad immediately knew something was wrong. “Dude, another Jensen encounter?”

“Shut up.” Jared didn’t want to talk about it. “Can we just play some Madden?”

Chad, being the great friend that he was, turned on the PlayStation without saying anything more about the matter and they spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch playing Madden, eating chips and frozen pizza, talking shit and generally behaving like teenagers their age do.

Jared could almost forget about Jensen.

 

When Jared finally went home, it was already dark. Jared enjoyed walking through the cold, crisp air, letting the moon light his way home. He’d never been afraid of the dark, there was nothing that could hurt him out there.

When he was a little kid he had been well protected and now, almost grown up, he could hold his own in a fight. He might be a beta, but when Jeff had started to train him in self-defense in case any of the surrounding packs ever got the stupid idea of trying to kidnap him, he had proven capable of even handing an alpha his ass to him.

He was tall for his age, almost as tall as most grown pack-members. His slender build belied his inherent Padalecki-strength, which, combined with a beta’s natural agility, made him quite the fighter. He’d never be as good as his brother or Jensen of course, but he also didn’t need to fear the dangers of the dark.

He was just crossing Main Street when Mitch Pileggi came his way. Mitch was older, but unmated, a tall, proud warrior and lusting after Jared just like the younger alphas. Thinking of being with him usually made Jared’s skin crawl, because _eww_ , the guy could be his father, but tonight he threw him a seductive glance from the side and added some more sway to his hips. He saw Mitch’s jaw drop, his head turning after Jared, eyes fixed firmly on his ass. Jared wanted to feel satisfied, smug, but all he could feel was bitter resentment.

He was so caught up in his inner turmoil that he didn’t see the werewolf standing in the shadows, eyes shooting daggers at Mitch, before turning his hungry gaze back on Jared, following him with his eyes until he left Main Street.

 

 

 

Once again, Jensen felt like he was dangerously close to exploding. Seriously, this couldn’t be good for his blood pressure.

Fortunately Mitch had seen his death glare and had quickly hurried away. Jensen didn’t think he could take much more today.

He tried to keep his encounters with Jared to a minimum, but he couldn’t stay away completely. He needed to see Jared as much as he needed to breathe air.

The kid was like a drug, it was never enough, Jensen always wanted more, wanted closer, wanted to touch, to claim and to possess. It was ridiculous how this kid had him twisted around in knots unable to think of anything else whenever he was in the vicinity and even if Jared was nowhere near him, he was a constant presence in his mind.

He’d always liked him, Jeff’s kid brother, a real cheeky brat but so curious and brave, always getting himself in trouble and being so damn cute in the process. Jensen should have realized back then what was going to happen when the kid grew up, because Jensen never thought of children as cute. Never.

Then Jared had grown up. And suddenly he wasn’t Jeff’s little kid brother anymore, following them around, always a mixture of annoying and amusing.

Suddenly he was Jared. Jared with his beautiful dimpled smile, the dark silky hair, the multicolored eyes that spoke invitations he couldn’t follow through yet, the tall slender body with the broadening shoulders and the pert little ass.

God, that ass. Jensen dreamed about that ass. How perfect it would fit into his hands. How great it would feel clenching around him as he pushed deep inside his mate. How-

Jensen shook his head. He needed to stop this train of thought right now or he would do something really stupid, like follow Jared home and fuck him over his garden fence.

It had been a relief when he could take long trips with Jeff to the border, fighting intruders and defending pack territory. He could let out all his pent-up sexual frustration in the fights with other weres, and in retrospect it had probably been the only thing keeping him sane.

However the fighting was over now. Jensen thought he had done his job a little too well, because now he was stuck in the town again and having to watch Jared strut his body around like he was walking on a catwalk showing off the newest underwear collection. He was still surprised at himself that he hadn’t snapped before with Jared playing his walking cocktease act.

Sometimes Jensen had the feeling that Jared singled him out, payed special attention to him, as if Jared wanted it to be him to win the fight. So Jensen had tried to keep it together and not make a drooling, horny mess out of himself every time Jared showed up. Instead he tried to actually have a conversation with him. Believe it or not, he liked the kid for more than just his looks.

Jared was whip smart and funny, didn’t take shit from anybody and generally did a lot of things that contradicted classic beta stereotypes. Jensen wanted him so bad, it hurt.

Jared had rejected all attempts at conversation though, just snapping at him and leaving, hips swinging enticingly. It was maddening and Jensen had no idea what kind of game he was playing or if there was a game at all.

 

 

The first snow came and went and soon winter had the town in it’s icy grip.

It was colder and longer than any winter most pack members could remember, and the pack’s activity dwindled down to almost nothing. The school was closed for almost a month and even when it opened again, the children didn’t play outside, but hurried inside immediately.

People still worked and went to the bar, but all in all it was a little like the town had gone into hibernation – at least that’s what it felt like to Jared. He couldn’t lounge around the park anymore, couldn’t strut down the streets and since he wasn’t eighteen yet he couldn’t even go to the bar.

Chad had turned eighteen shortly before Christmas and since their town had different laws than the human world, he was allowed to go to the bar and drink. Jared was lonely.

He still knew what the pack was gossiping about, but he didn’t want to hear it anymore. Instead of whispering excitedly about his coming heat, about who would fight and who would win, they were now talking about Jared being a late bloomer. The old biddies were suddenly listened to, because everybody wanted to hear their expertise about when betas went into heat for the first time and what could cause Jared to be so late.

Usually betas went into heat somewhere between their sixteenth and seventeenth birthday. Most of the times it happened in the fall, so the pups would be born in the summer, but when Jared still hadn’t gone into heat by November, the gossip had started.

Now, in the depth of winter, with nothing else to do than sit inside and talk, it was the number one topic of conversation.

Jared was sick of it. So even when the cold finally let up and the outside life of the pack returned full force, he started to avoid people.

Oh, he still toyed with every alpha he ran across, but he stopped parading himself all over town, minimizing the opportunities for the old betas to talk about him and sniff the air around him to see if they could detect any early signs.

 

Spring was miserable for Jared.

Betas went into heat twice a year, in the spring and in the fall and since Chad had gone into heat last fall, he would do it again soon. Since Chad hadn’t had a suitor and didn’t want a relationship, he had spent his first heat sequestered away in the outskirts of the pack’s territory.

It was customary for young betas who didn’t want to mate to leave the pack to make it easier on them and all alphas to resist the tempting scents of the heat. It hadn’t always been this way, in the old days betas had been mated off right away, either through previous negotiations or an open fight.

The traditional fight for the Alpha’s beta children was the only thing left of it today though.

Jared had always thought that it was really cool that all those powerful alphas would fight over him. Since he had always hoped that Jensen would be the one to win, he hadn’t been worried. Even when Jensen had stopped talking to him, he had clung to the memories of his childhood, back when Jensen had still been there for him and gotten him out of all kinds of troubles. But he hadn’t seen Jensen in weeks, hadn’t talked to him in even longer and his hopes that Jensen would fight for him were dwindling down.

And now there was an alpha sniffing after Chad. So his best friend was not available at all times anymore for impromptu playstation battles or spontaneous pity parties and Jared was pissed.

He knew he was being irrational and sulking like a little kid, but he felt off balance the whole time, like something was missing and he was waiting for it to come back.

His life sucked.

 

Summer came, hot and humid, the sweltering heat crawling like molasses through the town, keeping the people inside their air-conditioned houses.

School was over, Jared had graduated with Chad and the other handful of pups his age and now was usually the time where they would spend whole days running through the forest in their wolf form, swimming in the lakes and rivers and generally being a bunch of lazy brats.

But they were grown-ups now, it was time to look for jobs.

Some of the weres left to go to college, but most of them stayed in town or the surrounding area. Chad started working as a bartender in the Full Moon, but Jared was the Alpha’s son. His life would always be about politics and pack-administration.

The classic position for betas of the ruling families was taking care of the pups somehow, in the school or the kinder-garden, but Jared felt like he was still a child himself and his father didn’t push. So Jared lounged around the house and the woods and went crazy with boredom.

It was like he was waiting for something, he just didn’t know what it was.

 

Jared’s eighteenth birthday came and went and nothing happened.

He didn’t feel like throwing a party, so he snuck out with Chad and got shitfaced. There was no retribution the next day, his father knew how worried he was that he hadn’t gone into heat yet.

Jared started to doubt it would ever happen, he had heard the old beta Martin talk about how sometimes male betas just didn’t go into heat because they were infertile.

Other people must have heard it as well, and soon after the looks following Jared around weren’t those of lust, but of pity. Jared hated it, his mood reached a new low and he refused to interact with anyone besides Chad.

Then Harley got sick.

 

Harley had been a birthday present from Jeff when he was five and instantly became his best friend. Harley slept in his bed, got food from his plate, and sometimes when Jared went into the forest to run, he even took the dog with him.

Jeff took Jared and Harley to the vet in the next human town and the diagnosis was crushing. Harley had bone cancer. He had only a few months left. There was nothing they could do but put him to sleep.

They made the drive back home in silence. Jared sat in the backseat, Harley in his lap and he stroked the dog’s back the whole drive. The sky was as dark as Jared felt inside and the first fat drops of rain started to fall.

When they got home, Jared carried Harley inside and put him down on the couch. Usually he wasn’t allowed up there and Jared dared Jeff silently to say anything. His brother stayed quiet though and just ruffled Harley's fur.

“Maybe we should do it on the weekend. You know, when Dad is back from the Alpha conference. I’m sure he wants to say good-bye, too.”

“Do what?” Jared asked his brother.

“Jared, you heard what the vet said,” Jeff said gently, “Harley will be in a lot of pain soon. We have to put him down.”

“No!” Jared shook his head like crazy, “He has months left. Months!”

“And they will be miserable for him. You don’t want him to suffer, do you?”

“I don’t want him to die!” Jared yelled. This wasn’t happening. He wasn’t going to go to another funeral.

Jeff came over to Jared and drew him in a hug. “I’m sorry Jaybird, but there’s nothing we can do. We have to let him go.”

Jared pushed Jeff away. “I don’t have to do anything,” he spit out. Then he turned around, ran out of the backdoor and shifted as soon as he reached the grass. He felt his clothes rip, but he didn’t care. He just needed to get out.

The rain was falling heavier now, the soft rumble of thunder sounded in the distance and Jared ran.

 

 

Jensen was sitting on Chris’ back porch, drinking his sixth beer and watching the beginning of a thunderstorm.

Maybe he should be concerned that he was well on his way to drunk at four in the afternoon, but he couldn’t listen to Chris moon about his intended beta for the four millionth time without the soothing help of alcohol.

It wasn’t that Jensen didn’t sympathize, on the contrary, he knew what it meant to lust after a young beta, waiting for him to grow up.

But Chris actually had a shot there. He was the trainer of the guard, Jensen’s second in command and he was well-respected among the whole were-community. Objectively speaking Jensen could see that his friend was reasonably attractive although a little bit on the short side. He had a good voice though and was the best musician in the pack. There were quite a few betas who would mate with him, but Chris had his sight set on Chad Michael Murray, the most adverse beta in the whole pack.

Jensen personally couldn’t see the appeal, but then again he saw no one’s appeal, except Jared’s. As Chris liked to remind him quite frequently there was not a single unmated beta who would say no to him, but Jensen didn’t care. He knew exactly who he wanted.

“So?”

Jensen looked over to see Chris looking expectantly at him. “So what?”

“You didn’t listen to a word I said, did you?”

Jensen shook his head ruefully. “Sorry, man, it’s just-”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. God, what a pathetic pair we make, lusting after a pair of betas fresh out of their diapers who don’t even acknowledge we exist.”

“Amen,” Jensen said and clinked their beer bottles together.

The ringing of Chris’ phone disrupted the soothing sounds of rain hitting the roof. “Kane. Yeah, he’s here, why? I see.... you sure? Shit. Maybe he just- yeah okay.... Yeah, I’ll tell him. Don’t worry, we’re on our way.”

Chris hung up and turned to Jensen. “Dude, where the fuck is your phone?”

“Inside. Battery’s dead, why?”

“Jeff just called, Jared ran away.”

“What?” Jensen instantly bolted out of his chair. “Why? What happened?”

Chris shrugged. “Don’t know. Jeff just said that they had a fight and Jared stormed out. That was about an hour ago and with the storm intensifying, he thinks we should go looking for him.”

“Jared ran off an hour ago and Jeff is calling us now? What the fuck is wrong with him?”

“Calm down man. Jared is a wolf, not some delicate, little flower. He’ll survive a little bit of rain.”

But Jensen had already taken off his clothes and shifted. He shot Chris a death glare and headed for the forest. He didn’t know why Jared was so upset, but he knew exactly where to find him.

 

 

Jensen found Jared where he had expected him to be. The young beta sat curled up under the giant oak with the hole at the bottom of the trunk.

When Jared had been younger and angry or sad, he had come here – usually in his wolf form – and hidden in the tree for hours. Jensen couldn’t count the times anymore he had dragged him out of there by the scruff of his neck when he had still been a young pup.

Now Jared wasn’t hidden in the hole in the trunk and he wasn’t in his wolf form. Instead, he was sitting buck naked on the ground, head buried in his knees, shaggy hair covering his face. The rain was falling so heavily now, Jensen had trouble seeing him.

He stood rooted in the ground though, couldn’t move, because Jared was just over there and he was _naked_.

He couldn’t see much, but just the knowledge that just yards away were endless miles of golden skin with no clothes to hide them – Jensen felt his blood rushing south and he had to shake his head to stay focused. Something was wrong and he couldn’t figure out what it was as long as he was drooling over naked Jared.

He slowly crossed the clearing, his paws making squelching sounds on the wet ground. Jared didn’t look up, even when Jensen sat down right beside him.

The wind had picked up, whipping through the trees and when the next thunder struck, it was directly above them.

Right, time to go.

Jensen nudged Jared carefully with his snout, but the kid didn’t raise his head.

Jensen could hear a mumbled “What do you want?” over the rain and he cursed internally, because of course Jared would behave like a sulky five-year old and now he needed to shift back to talk to him and then he would be naked and Jared would still be naked. Not good. Not good at all.

He shifted back into his human form, immediately missing the warmth his fur had provided against the cold rain. “Jared. We need to get back to the house.”

“You go. I’ll stay here.” Jared still didn’t lift his head.

Jensen sighed exasperated. “Look, Jeff can be a moron. But whatever he said, he probably meant well, so how about you cut your teenage angst and get your ass back to your house before you catch pneumonia.”

Jared’s head shot up lightning fast and he glared at Jensen through tear-streaked eyes. “Means well? Jeff wants to kill him!”

“Kill him? Kill who?”

“Harley!”

Jensen scrunched up his eyebrows. “Why does Jeff want to kill Harley? That doesn’t make a lick of sense.”

Instead of replying Jared just looked to the ground, shoulders hunched up and Jensen got a really bad feeling. He could practically see the desperation coming off of Jared in waves.

Gently he put a hand on Jared’s shoulder and tried to ignore how his skin burned at the contact. “Jaybird, why does Jeff want to kill Harley?” he asked, carefully trying to keep his voice soft.

Jared tried to hide a sob, but wasn’t completely successful. Jensen’s heart ached at the sight. If his mate would just tell him what was wrong, so he could fix it!

“Harley, he, he’s, Harley’s-” Jared flung himself into Jensen’s arms, burying his head into Jensen’s shoulder and started sobbing in earnest.

Jensen stroked over Jared’s hair and back, careful not to touch him anywhere else, looking straight ahead and ignoring his cock that just didn’t understand that a naked, crying Jared was not a good thing.

Instead he tried to figure out what Jared was sobbing into his neck. It took him a while, but eventually he gathered that Harley was very sick and the doctors had suggested putting him down, an option that Jared seemed to refuse completely.

Shit.

If Jeff wanted to put Harley down, there was no other way. He loved the damn mutt almost as much as Jared did.

Jensen wasn’t completely unaffected by the news either, he had been there after all, when Jeff had skipped school to get a dog for his little brother so he would finally smile again. So Jensen just kept sitting there with Jared in his arms, murmuring soothing nothings in his ear and stroking his hair.

It was the sweetest torture.

After a while, Jared calmed down and Jensen attempted to bring some space between them. “You alright? Listen, this storm is not gonna let up anytime soon, so how about we head back to your place?”

Jared just shook his head.

“Don’t you wanna be with Harley?” Jensen tried again. “He’ll need you, if he’s sick.”

“Shut up,” Jared hissed. “Don’t you talk about him!”

Jensen flinched at the tone and for a moment Jared looked guilty.

“Look, Jared, I know we-” Jared was looking at him with wide eyes and Jensen stumbled over the words.

He had no idea what exactly was going on between them, if it was all just in his head or if Jared really favored him over the other alphas. He stared back at Jared, but could read nothing in his dark eyes, almost black in the eerie glow of the lightning.

Jensen let out a weary breath. “Let’s just head back, okay kid?”

 

After Jared was safely deposited on his living-room couch, wrapped in sweats and towels, Harley in his lap, Jeff took Jensen out the backdoor.

The rain was still falling, but the thunder was only a distant rumbling and the lightnings flashed weakly on the horizon.

“Thanks.” Jeff’s voice was rough with some unspoken emotion.

“No problem.”

Jeff cleared his throat. “So,” he drew out the word like he only did when he had to talk about something awkward or embarrassing. “Should we talk about it?”

“Talk about what?” Jensen asked.

“Oh, you know.” Jeff waved his hand in the general direction of the living-room.

Jensen had wondered if Jeff was ever going to bring it up. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Not yet, there isn’t. But sooner or later, there will be. We’ve never talked about it, because I always assumed and you assumed that I assumed, but as Jared’s big brother I feel we should have at least one actual conversation about it.”

Jensen sighed. Jeff was right of course, so he nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

“So,” Jeff began again. “Are you gonna...?”

“Yep.”

“You think you’ll...?”

“Chances are pretty good.”

“Hmm.” Jeff tried to sound casual. “You talk to Jared about it?”

“Nope.”

“Hm. You think, he wants-”

“No idea.”

“Okay then!” Jeff clapped his hands, then rubbed them together. “Well, this was fun. Let’s never do that again, shall we?”

Jensen just stared at his friend. “That’s all?” he asked incredulously. “Just like that? With no speech about how I better not hurt him and treat him right and all that?”

Jeff huffed. “Jensen, you’re one of my best friends. I’ve known you all my life. We went to school together, we played together, we sat in detention together, we chased humans together and we fought together. I _know_ you. From all the alphas out there, you’re the one I want for Jared. Plus, you’re ass over heels for him, so that’s good.”

Jeff smiled sweetly at him. “If it helps, I will rip you apart if you hurt him, friends since childhood or not. Jared is my baby brother and if I think for one second that you’re treating him with anything less than the complete love and devotion he deserves, there won’t be a corner in this world where you can hide from me.”

Jensen nodded. “Good. Thanks. That was really good. You practice that in the mirror?”

Jeff laughed. “Everyday since that brat hit his growth spurt and suddenly became alpha bait over night.”

Jensen groaned. “Don’t remind me. If I have to see one more guy eye-fucking him, I’m gonna start throwing punches.”

Jeff chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder. “You and me both, brother, you and me both!”

 

 

The next day, Chad came over in the morning.

Since he had started his new job at the Full Moon he usually slept in late, but when Jared had told him about Harley, he had shown up on Jared’s doorstep half an hour later, bringing bags of chips , gummiworms and dog treats with him. Instead of saying something, Jared drew him in a short, tight hug.

“When is your dad coming back from the conference?” Chad asked over the third bag of chips, the old Nintendo controllers lying momentarily forgotten on the ground, the sound of Super Mario World playing quietly in the background.

“Tomorrow, I think,” Jared answered. “Why?”

“Well,” Chad stopped. “Look, you probably don’t wanna hear it, but I’m your best friend, and somebody has to tell you this. Harley is sick, Jay. He’s in pain. I mean, look at him, he won’t even play with us anymore. I know this is hard, I know what he means to you, hell I love him, too. But, Jay....” Chad trailed off.

Jared looked up from his lap and Chad was looking at him with so much sincerity, something in him broke. “I know. I just- I don’t know how.” His eyes and throat were burning and he furiously blinked away the tears that were about to fall.

“I know, it’s impossible. But we’ll get through it. And you won’t be alone. You have your dad and Jeff and me and even Jensen.”

At that Jared let out a harsh laugh. “Yeah, I don’t really have Jensen,” he said bitterly.

“Well I know you’re not officially mated yet, but he is totally in love with you and-”

Jared couldn’t stand to hear it, so he cut Chad off. “No, he’s not, okay? I know you think he’s just hiding his passionate love for me or whatever, but he is not. He’s just not interested!”

“Jay,” Chad started.

“Don’t Jay me! I have tried everything and I haven’t gotten a single reaction! Nothing! Zip! Zilch! No flirting at all. Instead he asks me how I am and how school was going and yesterday in the forest he actually called me a kid! God, I don’t know how I could be so stupid to think he would ever want me! I mean we practically grew up together. He probably only sees me as Jeff’s kid brother!”

Chad stared a Jared for long time, before he shook his head. “God, you’re such a drama queen.”

“What?” Jared stared disbelievingly at his best friend.

“Jay, c'mon, that’s bull and you know it. Jensen came out into the forest in the middle of a thunderstorm to get you back. Not only that, he found you! In the middle of the forest! In a thunderstorm!”

“Yeah well, I was at the tree. I always go there when something bad happens.”

“When was the last time you went there?” Chad asked.

“I don’t know, years, why?”

“Exactly!” Chad sounded exited now. “It has been _years_ and Jensen still remembers!”

That made sense. Sort of. “You think?” he asked.

“Yeah, of course! And you know, I hear the gossip at the bar. Alona told me she heard that Jensen told another alpha that if he ever saw him touching you again, Jensen would rip him apart. And from the way she told me, he sounded seriously scared. Said that if Jensen ever decided to enter the fight for you, he and probably half the other alphas would pull out.”

“But then why doesn’t he say something?” Jared exclaimed.

Chad snorted. “We’re talking about the same Jensen here, right? The guy with the green eyes and the freckles, who is always in complete control of himself and has more pride than anyone else we know? Also the one who would never disrespect anybody, especially a beta, and has a very low tolerance for alphas behaving like stupid knotheads? We are talking about that Jensen?”

Jared smiled ruefully. Chad was right. “It would just be nice to have a confirmation, you know. So that if I finally go into heat, and that’s a big if, he’ll fight for me.”

“Don’t worry, Jay.” Chad leaned over and ruffled his hair. “On both accounts. You’ll see, you’ll go into heat and Jensen will win your hand and you’ll have your fucking disgusting fairytale happy-ending with rainbows and unicorns and the whole shebang!”

Jared laughed. “Thanks Chad. How do you always know which kind words to use to lift somebody’s spirits?”

Chad grinned. “It’s a true gift, my man.”

 

Jeff came home for lunch, something he never did and actually sat down with them on the couch to eat his sandwich and steal some chips.

“Jeff, I’m fine,” Jared told him, slightly annoyed.

“What? Yeah, of course. I know. Why do you say that, I didn’t ask.” Jeff tried to look innocent and failed spectacularly. Jared sighed. His brother was such a bad liar.

“Yeah, sure. How about you get your ass back to work now, then? I promise, Chad will keep me safe and sound.”

Chad held up his hand, thumb holding down his little finger. “Scout’s honor.”

Before Jeff had a chance to reply, the door opened and Jensen came in.

Jared looked up to him and was once again blown away by the alpha’s sheer hotness. Seriously, no one should be allowed to look that good.

“Hey Jared. Chad.”

Jared and Chad said hey in unison.

“I, uh, just came to pick up Jeff. You know, pack business. You okay, Jared?”

Okay, pretty face or not, Jared was getting pissed. “Yes, I’m fine. Geez, what is it with you two? I’m not depressed or something, I’m not gonna hurt myself or whatever it is you guys think I’m gonna do!”

Jeff and Jensen shared an awkward glance.

It was Jeff who answered. “Well, you did run off into the forest-”

“Oh, for fucks sake! We run in the forest all the time. So it was raining a bit, bohoo. Despite how sweet I am, I’m not actually made out of sugar.”

This time it was Jensen who spoke. “Yeah, but Jared, you could have seriously gotten ill.”

“Oh my god, yes, I could have gotten a cold and died from a runny nose!”

Chad sniggered and Jeff and Jensen wore almost identical expressions of anger.

“Jared, your health is not something to joke about,” Jensen bit out, his whole body tense.

Jared knew he was riling him up and he loved it. At least he was getting some reaction out of Jensen.

“Jesus fuck, what are you, an old woman?”

“Alright, that’s enough. You listen to me, you little-”

“Whoa, hey, okay that’s enough!” Jeff put a hand on Jensen’s arm and shot him a warning glance. “We’re leaving. And you two,” he pointed a finger at Jared and Chad, “Behave!”

Then he practically dragged Jensen out of the room. They could hear them murmuring angrily on their way out, Jared thought he heard something along the lines of infuriating brat and then the front door slammed shut.

Jared snickered. “Whoever came up with the stereotypes that betas are the caring, worrying ones clearly doesn’t know these two. I swear, the scariest alphas in Texas behaving like overbearing mother-hens!”

Chad nodded sagely. “I know. It’s actually the alphas who are the worrywarts. Seriously, yesterday I was walking home from the store and Chris came up to me and offered to carry my grocery bags. My grocery bags, Jared! My two fucking grocery bags! I mean, do I look like some helpless little creature from a romance novel?”

“No you don’t,” Jared said in the time it took Chad to take a breath.

“Damn right I don’t. Where does that guy come off, huh? It’s bad enough that every time he comes to hang out at our house he offers to chop some wood or repair a leaking faucet or something. And my mom’s all like 'Oh Christian, it’s so wonderful that you help us out so much! It’s almost like having an alpha in the house!'” Chad imitated his mother’s soft, high voice almost perfectly. “And he goes all like 'no problem, ma’am, it’s my pleasure' and the only thing missing is that he’s tipping his fucking hat. I swear, if this would be happening one hundred years ago my mom would’ve already signed the marriage contract!”

Chad had started to pace up and down the living-room during his rant, but now he stopped and looked exasperatedly at Jared. “I mean, what the fuck?”

“Well,” Jared said slowly, “I guess that answers my question.”

“What question?”

“How you feel about an alpha sniffing around you.”

Chad huffed out a breath. “Yeah well, don’t get me wrong, the way he’s acting like he’s fucking courting me or something, that’s annoying as hell, but I won’t deny that it’s sort of flattering. And he is Chris Kane. I mean sure, he’s nothing like Jensen Ackles,” Chad smirked and ducked the pillow Jared threw at him, “but as far as alphas go, it could be worse.”

“You suck,” Jared pouted from his place on the couch. “But wait, does that mean you like him or not?”

“Meh,” Chad shrugged his shoulders. “I guess he’s alright. But it doesn’t really matter, since I won’t stick around long enough to find out. As soon as you’re mated and I have enough money saved up, I’m gonna blow this podunk town. I’ll go out into the world and bang every human chick I can find. Chad Michael Murray won’t be tied down by no alpha, no sir!”

“So you’re still gonna go through with it,” Jared asked.

“Sure am,” Chad said.

Jared sighed. “I’m gonna miss you, man.”

“Dude!” Chad exclaimed. “No need to get all emotional about it now, that won’t happen for another year or so at least.”

Jared couldn’t help it, he had to laugh. Chad was just being so... Chad.

 

 

When Gerald came back, he drove back to the vet with Jeff and Jared to put Harley to sleep.

Chad had offered to come with them, but Jared declined. He just wanted to be alone.

After they buried Harley's body at the back of their property, where the woods started and two gravestones were already marking the final resting places of his mother and sister, Jared shifted and went into the woods.

He spent the whole day out there, just running around, completely exhausting his body, so that he could fall in a restless sleep under the apple tree behind their house when the sun set. The next days Jared continued to walk around aimlessly, sometimes in his wolf form, sometimes in his human body.

The pain inside his chest was slowly dulling down, but the hole that had been there since his mother’s and sister’s death had just gotten bigger.

It would be another ache he’d always carry around with him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Ignite

Four days after the burial Jared was lounging on a park bench and letting himself be warmed by the morning sun. It was warm already, but not as unbearably hot as it would be later in the day and he was enjoying the sun now, before he would seek out the air-conditioned rooms of his house and take a well-deserved nap.  
  
The night before he had stopped by the Full Moon during Chad’s shift and he’d actually had fun.  
  
It had helped that a group of alphas just got back from their two week patrol assignment and each and every one of them was tripping over their feet to talk to Jared, mostly ignoring the other betas after he showed up.  
  
He only wanted Jensen of course, but his ego took what it could get.  
  
Michael Weatherly had been on the front of the line, giving Jared one cheesy compliment after another. He had laughed at them all, batted his eyelashes at the alpha and even blown him a kiss when he left. Weatherly had swelled up with pride so much, Jared had feared his head would explode. Good times.  
  
He couldn’t help but smile when his thoughts went back to Jensen again.  
  
So he never flirted with him, so what? Chad was right, he did care. Maybe even more, _because_ he didn’t objectify Jared like all the other alphas did.  
  
Jared realized that he actually missed Jensen, the Jensen who had helped him with his homework or played endless hours of Nintendo with him on rainy days. It felt like a lifetime ago, back before Jared had started puberty and grown up.  
  
Even after Jensen had popped his knot he still had spent time with Jared. It had only changed the summer Jared turned sixteen. Jensen had left with Jeff to spend the summer with Jeffrey Morgan’s pack, training with them and when they came back, Jared had shot up two inches and lost most of his remaining baby fat.  
  
After that, Jensen hadn’t spent time with him anymore. Sure, he had been busy with the border disputes, but even when he had been home he had avoided Jared. Jared hadn’t known how to talk to Jensen, hadn’t known what was wrong, so he started the only thing he could think of to get a reaction out of him: tease him mercilessly. Only that hadn’t worked out so well.  
  
But maybe Chad had a point and Jensen had avoided him only to hide his passionate burning love.  
  
Jared grinned. Not that he agreed with Jensen’s methods, he had put him through misery for two years by letting him believe that he wasn’t interested, but if Jensen would fight for him, Jared supposed he could forgive him.  
  
Chad was right, in the end everything would turn out alright. For the first time in forever, Jared couldn’t wait for his heat to start.  
  
Jared stretched, letting his arms dangle over the end on the bench and enjoyed the gentle breeze over his now exposed stomach.  
  
He heard someone approaching, but decided he didn’t want to be disturbed now. He didn’t open his eyes until he heard the person suck in a breath and come to a halt only a few steps from the bench.  
  
Jared opened his eyes and sucked in a breath of his own.  
  
Jensen was standing before him, dressed in shorts and a thin white t-shirt, the sun directly behind his head, making a halo around his hair. He apparently hadn’t shaved that morning, the stubble of his beard more pronounced than usual and Jared wanted to know what it would feel like dragging across his skin.  
  
  
Jensen couldn’t look away.  
  
Jared was lounging on a park bench like a pin-up model, thin wife-beater ridden up to expose a tanned strip of flat stomach, but it was hot and Jared was sweaty all over, so his clothes clung to him like a second skin anyway, allowing Jensen to see every contour of every softly defined muscle. He wanted to lick all of them.  
  
Jensen realized he was staring and tore his eyes away. He knew they had buried Harley on the weekend, Jared must still be devastated. He had to comfort him now, not perv on him.  
  
“Hey. Mind if I sit?”  
  
Jared slowly sat up and shook his head. “No, go ahead.”  
  
Jensen sat down, careful to put enough distance between them and looked at him. There were deep shadows under Jared’s eyes, but apart from that it didn’t look too bad.  
  
“You okay?”  
  
Jared was silent for a while before he replied. “Not yet, but I will be. At some point.”  
  
“Good.”  
  
They were quiet for some time, just sitting next to each other and somehow it didn’t feel awkward or strained, just comfortable.  
  
“I’m just gonna miss him so much, you know? He’s been around since I can remember.”  
  
Jared’s voice sounded so small, Jensen just wanted to draw him into a hug and never let go.  
  
“Yeah, I know. He was such a cute little puppy, too. Always following you around even though he had trouble keeping up on those overgrown paws of his.” Jensen chuckled at the memory.  
  
Jared looked at him with astonishment. “You remember that?”  
  
“Sure,” Jensen said. “I was with Jeff the day we picked him out. Got two weeks detention for it too, because we skipped school. Your dad wasn’t mad at us though, once he saw how happy Harley made you, so he intervened with Mr. Beaver and we only had to do a week.”  
  
“I didn’t know that,” Jared said softly. “Jeff never told me.”  
  
“Yeah well, he doesn’t want the world to see what a big softy he really is.”  
  
“I don’t even know how he knew I wanted a dog, I can’t remember telling him,” Jared wondered.  
  
Jensen cleared his throat and looked down on the ground. “That’s because you didn’t. You told me.”  
  
He could feel Jared’s gaze on him and he should just shut up now. “You were five and going through your first vet phase.”  
  
He should really, really shut up now. “You were putting band-aids and bandages on all your stuffed animals and when there was no space left on any of them you started pestering Jeff and me to let you doctor us.”  
  
Oh god, why couldn’t he just shut up? He was going to horribly embarrass himself, but Jared was looking at him with those eyes of his and he couldn’t keep the words from spilling out.  
  
“Jeff, of course, told you to get lost, but I- well you were really cute back then and had just mastered your damn puppy dog eyes and I felt bad for you, because Jeff was so mean to you, so I let you,” Jensen rushed out.  
  
Jared was looking at him with a mixture of amusement, disbelief, and- was that fondness?  
  
“Let me do what?”  
  
Jensen looked up to the sky and huffed out a breath. All his own damn fault.  
  
“Let me do what, Jensen?”  
  
Hearing Jared say his name sent a shiver down his spine and he couldn’t stop himself from answering. “I let you put band-aids all over me while I was in my wolf form.”  
  
Jared stared at him for a moment longer and then burst out laughing.  
  
“You, I’m sorry, but that- I mean, band-aids!” Jared was practically howling with laughter, tears running down his face. “Oh, please tell me that there are pictures!”  
  
Shit. “NO, no pictures!”  
  
Jared stilled for a moment, his face all flushed, scrutinizing Jensen and then he burst out laughing again. “You liar! You’re such a dirty liar! Liar, liar, pants on fire! Oh, I’m so gonna get your mom to show them to me.”  
  
And Jensen knew he would. Donna Ackles was as powerless to the puppy dog eyes as anyone else. Great.  
  
Jared’s laughter died off and he looked at Jensen again, suddenly dead serious. “You really let me put band-aids all over you?”  
  
There was something in the way Jared was looking at him he couldn’t quite decipher.  
  
Jensen sighed and prepared himself to be mocked forever. “Yes, Jared, I did.”  
  
And then suddenly he had his lap full of Jared, big hands on his face and hot mouth pressing against his own.  
  
What the fuck?  
  
Jensen was reeling, trying to figure out what was happening, but Jared was kissing and licking at his lips, pressing himself down onto Jensen’s crotch and shit, he was hard instantly, blood rushing south.  
  
He opened his mouth to protest, he needed Jared to stop _now_ , but then Jared’s tongue was in his mouth, clumsy, but eager and Jensen could taste Jared and god, it was good.  
  
He couldn’t help but move his mouth against Jared’s, kissing him back and taking control of the kiss. His hands found their way to Jared’s slender hips just as Jared’s nails scraped against the back of his head. It felt so good, Jensen never wanted to stop, he needed to feel Jared, feel him everywhere and his mind was plotting out the scenarios how Jensen could take off their clothes the most efficient way without wasting too much time or breaking apart.  
  
And then Jared moaned, a hot, filthy sound, right into Jensen’s mouth and it brought him back to reality.  
  
He was sitting on a park bench, making out with Jared.  
  
He was sitting on a park bench, making out with the pack Alpha’s still unclaimed son who hadn’t even gone into heat yet.  
  
Fuck. Fucking fucked fuck!  
  
He drew his head back and broke their kiss. “Jared, shit, we need to stop.”  
  
Jared just ducked his head down and started nibbling on his neck.  
  
“No, we don’t,” he murmured against Jensen’s skin and the alpha threw his head back, momentarily getting lost in the sensation of Jared’s hot breath on his damp skin.  
  
It was getting harder to concentrate, arousal clouding his senses, his inner animal clawing at him, wanting to get out, to kiss, lick, bite and claim. He needed to get Jared off.  
  
“Jay, baby, come on, you know, we can’t- the law.”  
  
“Oh, fuck the law!” Jared growled out and bit down where neck met shoulder.  
  
Jensen couldn’t keep the moan from spilling out.  
  
“I know we can’t mate, but just this, let me have just this, c’mon Jen.”  
  
Jensen didn’t know what Jared was talking about until he realized Jared was raising himself up and pushing down in his lap, rubbing their hard cocks together, intent clear.  
  
But Jensen couldn’t just rub himself all over Jared and come and be done with it. He could already feel his knot swelling, his inner alpha coming closer to the surface and he needed to breathe now.  
  
He pushed Jared off his lap so hard that the beta fell off the bench.  
  
Jared landed hard on his ass and looked up at Jensen with hurt in his eyes. “What the fuck?”  
  
Jensen gripped the bench tight and tried to get his ragged breathing under control. “Jared, we can’t do this!”  
  
“But the laws are stupid,” Jared yelled. “A little bit of making out never hurt anyone. And I can’t wait anymore.”  
  
But Jensen knew that it wouldn’t be just making out, he wouldn’t be able to control himself. “Jared, just drop it!”  
  
Jared set his jaw stubbornly and shook his head. “No.”  
  
He got up with cat-like grace, Jensen couldn’t help but stare, and then Jared was back in his lap and Jensen panicked. If Jared didn’t get off of him in five seconds he would claim him on the park bench, consequences be damned.  
  
“Jared, stop it, I don’t want it!”  
  
Jared’s head whipped back as if he’d been slapped. “Bullshit! Of course you want to.”  
  
“No, I don’t,” Jensen ground out.  
  
Jared scoffed and bore down. “I can feel how much you want to.”  
  
Jensen closed his eyes and tried to focus. He needed to say something that would make Jared leave like yesterday. “I’m a red-blooded alpha in my prime. Of course my body reacts to a young beta rubbing himself all over me like a bitch in heat.”  
  
Jensen regretted the words the instant they left his mouth, but they seemed to work.  
  
Jared was frozen in his lap. “What are you saying? What, you- you don’t want me?”  
  
Jensen looked Jared dead in the eye when he asked, “Have I ever given you any indication that I want you?”  
  
Jared’s face fell and his entire body slumped. Jensen felt like something was tearing him up on the inside, how could Jared really not know how much he wanted him?  
  
Then Jared scrambled of his lap, his expression changing from hurt to pissed off. “Yeah well, I don’t want you either, you arrogant piece of shit. You were just a convenient dick! So you don’t want this?” Jared gestured up and down his body and oh god, how Jensen wanted.  
  
“Your loss. Cause someone will be very happy with this. And you’ll be alone forever, because no beta will ever want an alpha with a stick up his ass!” With that Jared turned around and stalked off.  
  
Jensen sat rooted to the spot, desire, anger and regret warring inside of him. He just hoped that no one had heard or seen them. And that Jared would forgive him at some point for lying to him. Otherwise it could make the claiming a little bit awkward. Because there was no doubt in Jensen’s mind that he would be the one to win Jared.  
  
He would rather die than see another alpha touch his mate.  
  
  
  
After the incident (Jared refused to call what happened with that arrogant jerk on the park bench anything else) Jared went out every night. He drank too much and flirted too heavily.  
  
Chad’s worried eyes were tracking him the whole time, but Chad had lost his right to judge when he had assured Jared that that asshole of a jerk wanted him. Yeah, right.  
  
The first night Chris Kane was there, sitting at the bar, just drinking his beer and occasionally chatting with Chad. Chad usually brushed him off pretty fast and Jared would feel pity for the alpha, but he was one of that stupid jerk’s friends and Jared wasn’t particularly rational at the moment.  
  
He was angry and agitated all the time, that stuck-up jerk’s rejection tattooed permanently into him, making his skin itch and feel too small. He refused to even think his name anymore. Michael Weatherly was having a field day, buying Jared drink after drink.  
  
That first night, Chris came up to him and told him he would get him home, he was too drunk to be out, but Jared just flipped him off and downed another tequila with Weatherly. Fifteen minutes later Jeff showed up and all but dragged him out of the bar and back home.  
  
Jared fell asleep halfway through the lecture about drinking too much and improper behavior and the next morning he woke up without a hangover (thank fuck for his werewolf-metabolism), but the crawly feeling was still there.  
  
During subsequent evenings that unbelievable jerk joined Chris at the bar, but Jared never spoke to him or even acknowledged him. Instead he flirted more than ever, tried to include everyone, but his main focus was still on Weatherly. He was the one that snobbish jerk hated the most after all.  
  
Jared didn’t know what had happened between them, but it was an open secret that they despised each other. They had always competed against each other and since that overachieving jerk was better at almost everything, the other alpha spewed filth about that him whenever he got the chance, while that conceited jerk usually took the high road and just scowled.  
  
Jared knew that that ignorant jerk didn’t want him, but even though he would hate for Weatherly to get the Alpha’s son as his mate. Jared knew it was childish, but he didn’t care. Now that he knew that Jensen wouldn’t fight for him, his life was over anyway. There was no one else he wanted, no one else he would ever be able to fall in love with.  
  
So Jared downed another shot and hoped he would never go into heat.


	3. Burn

 

Jared stood in the shower, letting the cool spray run soothingly over his body.  
  
The last week had taken its toll on him, all the booze and the staying up late and being constantly in a room with Jensen, feeling the alpha like a physical presence. Jared felt drained and charged up all at once. It felt like a thousand ants were constantly crawling under his skin and the shower didn’t help at all.  
  
He sighed and shut the water off. He’d been feeling like crap for a week now, maybe he was getting sick. It was rare for werewolves, but it did happen. Jared’s family had learned that the hard way.  
  
He dried himself off perfunctory and wrapped the towel around his waist. His stomach growled loudly and Jared headed down the stairs to find some food. The radio in the kitchen was on, so his dad and Jeff were already awake, maybe there were leftovers.  
  
Shortly before he reached the living-room he heard the front door open and he felt like he’d been punched in the gut. What was that smell?  
  
He rounded the corner and froze when he saw Jensen standing by the dining table. He had obviously stopped by to pick up Jeff for patrol.  
  
Gerald was talking to Jensen, but Jared couldn’t hear a single word of what his father was saying. He was only aware of Jensen.  
  
Jensen, who smelled like the forest after a strong thunderstorm, heavy and fresh all at once, like long afternoons spent lazing in the grass, like warmth and safety and _home_.  
  
Jensen, who was gripping one of the chairs so tightly his knuckles were turning white and the wood was making splintering sounds.  
  
Jensen, whose pupils were almost completely dilated and who was staring at Jared like he was a starving man and Jared the only meal in sight.  
  
Jared had the sudden urge to drop to his knees and bare his throat and where the fuck did that come from?  
  
“Jensen, you okay, son?” Gerald asked and stepped closer to Jensen.  
  
The reaction was instant. Jensen bared his teeth and growled at the Alpha. Gerald looked taken aback, but squared his shoulders and growled warningly back at Jensen.  
  
Suddenly the kitchen door banged open and Jeff came in. He was oblivious to the tension in the room, just smiled at Jensen and walked over.  
  
“Hey man, sorry, just had to get something to eat. You ready- Jensen? What the fuck?”  
  
Jensen had turned to Jeff and continued to growl with his eyes glowing and his incisors lengthening. Jared was trapped in a spell somehow, there was nothing but Jensen, his alpha, demanding him to submit and his feet started moving on their own accord.  
  
Jared’s movement snapped the other men out of their stand-off.  
  
Jensen, whose eyes had tracked Jared’s every move, looked back at Jeff. “Get me out of here,” he ground out.  
  
Jeff took one deep whiff of the room and didn’t hesitate, just jumped at Jensen and brought him down. They shifted instantly and suddenly two giant wolves, one dark and one light, were rolling around the floor in a flurry of limbs and snapping jaws.  
  
They were evenly matched and Jared watched with growing horror as his father stepped between them. Interrupting two fighting wolves was suicide. Gerald managed to avoid the sharp teeth and claws though and grabbed each of them by the scruff of their necks.  
  
“Enough!” he bellowed, voice heavy with all the authority his Alpha-status gave him.  
  
The two wolves quieted down, only snarling lowly and snapping occasionally at each other, while Gerald dragged them to the front door and unceremoniously threw them out of the house.  
  
He stood in the doorway for a moment longer, chuckling to himself. “And that,” he sad quietly, “is why I am Alpha.”  
  
Then he spun around and looked at Jared. “And you! Why didn’t you say something?”  
  
Jared was still reeling from what had just happened and he didn’t even know _what_ had happened.  
  
“Say something? I have no idea what just happened!” he exclaimed.  
  
“Jared, you’re going into heat! And judging by the way Jensen just reacted to you, we need to get you out of here now. If his reaction to you is this strong when your heat is just starting, I’ll have to get out the shotgun by moonrise to keep every horny alpha from this town out of our house. So go pack your bags!”  
  
No, he couldn’t leave Jensen. “But I can’t go, I-”  
  
“Now, Jared!”  
  
“But-”  
  
“Jared, I will not have my town sink into chaos, because my son is in heat. Go pack!”  
  
The last command was laced with so much Alpha-authority Jared instantly turned around and headed up the stairs to his room. He felt like he was still in a daze, his movements felt slow and sluggish, like he was trapped in a red haze and the only really important thought was why Jensen wasn’t with him.  
  
  
Jared was still packing when Jeff returned half an hour later.  
  
He took one look at his little brother, went to his closet and threw the first shirts and pants he could find into the almost empty bag on the bed. Then he went into Jared’s bathroom, collected the necessary toiletries and went back into his brother’s room.  
  
Jared was still standing there, looking at Jeff like a lost little five-year old. “What’s happening to me, Jeff?”  
  
God, he sounded so small and scared.  
  
“No one said it would be like this, is it supposed to be like this?” Jared’s eyes were big and pleading for help and it had been a long time since Jeff had felt so overwhelmed .  
  
“I’m sorry, Jaybird, I don’t know. Do you want me to get a beta to keep you company? Maybe Chad or Mrs. Murray?”  
  
Jared shook his head slowly. “Yes. No. I don’t know. I just-”  
  
“It’s okay, Jaybird, we’ll figure it out. How about we just head out, get you some fresh air, hm?”  
  
“Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good.” Jared was still talking haltingly, like he had to search for every word and Jeff’s heart ached. He needed to get his little brother out of town.  
  
  
That night the Full Moon was packed and there was only one topic of conversation in the bar. By now everybody had heard and the whole town was buzzing with the news.  
  
The Alpha’s son had gone into heat.  
  
Messages had been sent to the other packs and a date had been set. Five days from today, the fight would take place. All unmated alphas were eligible to enter and Mike Rosenbaum was already taking bets.  
  
The list of possible contenders was long. Jared was beautiful by all standards, smart and the Alpha’s son. Every unmated alpha who was skilled in fighting would jump at the opportunity to win him as their mate.  
  
A few alphas from the pack had already declared that they would enter and Michael Weatherly was the loudest amongst them. He was practically holding court at one of the round tables in the back, telling everybody who was interested and everybody who wasn’t that he would win, because he was clearly Jared’s favorite and how being the favored contestant always gave alphas the edge they needed to win. Not that there was anyone who could beat him anyway.  
  
“I don’t know,” Sam said. She was an older, widowed alpha and everybody listened when she spoke. “I heard Tom Welling from New York is interested and he is one hell of a fighter. Tall and strong. Just like Aldis Hodge from Chicago. He might seem like the quiet type, but in a fight he is a beast. My cousin told me he almost single-handedly defeated an invading pack from Wisconsin.”  
  
There was murmured approval all around the table while Weatherly scoffed.  
  
“I met Tom Welling once. The guy is built like a brick house,” Mitch said. “I’m not looking forward to fighting him.”  
  
“That’s because you’re old and doddery, gramps,” Weatherly sneered. “I don’t care who is going to show up, Jared will be mine.”  
  
“And what if Jensen fights?”  
  
The bar went dead quiet. Weatherly turned around to see who had spoken. Chad was leaning against the wall, looking at him with raised eyebrows.  
  
“Jensen is not going to fight. He doesn’t want Jared.”  
  
Chad continued to stare at Weatherly. “You sure about that?”  
  
“Yes, I’m sure.” Weatherly bit out.  
  
One of the other alphas laughed nervously. “We have to be sure, cause if Jensen fights, I sure as hell ain’t. The kid is hot as hell, but not that hot.”  
  
“Look,” Weatherly started, “Jared is like Jensen’s little brother. Jensen never flirted with him or showed any interest in him that way.”  
  
Mitch looked skeptic. “You know, you might be wrong about that. He did shoot me a look once when I was with Jared.”  
  
“You mean, when you were perving on him? That was just brotherly protectiveness. Trust me, I’d now if Jensen was interested.”  
  
Chad snorted. “Yeah, we all know that you know everything about Jensen. If you didn’t insist on hating him so much I’d say you were stalking him.”  
  
“You watch your mouth, little beta. Why don’t you hurry off to polish a glass or something and let the real wolves talk, hm?” Weatherly’s voice had a threatening tone to it and before Chad could give a scathing reply, Chris was there, standing right next to Chad.  
  
“Shut the fuck up, Weatherly. If I ever hear you talking to a beta that disrespectfully again, you’ll be on border patrol for two months straight!”  
  
Weatherly narrowed his eyes, but wisely kept his mouth shut. Chad shot him one more evil look and then made his way back to the bar, Chris following behind.  
  
“You didn’t need to do that. I can defend myself.”  
  
Chris didn’t answer, just looked at Chad, frustration mixed with resignation clear on his face.  
  
“Seriously, I can handle assholes like that. I don’t need an alpha to protect me!” He really didn’t, his family was fine, had been fine without one for years.  
  
“I know that you can. The point is, you shouldn’t have to. No alpha should even think of talking to you like that just because you’re a beta. And if other alphas don’t say anything, things will never change.”  
  
Chad looked down, concentration on tapping a beer. He didn’t want to tell Chris that he had a point.  
  
“Look, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have interfered. It’s just, I couldn’t let him talk to you like that.”  
  
When Chad looked up and shot him another death glare, Chris added, “Not because I think you can’t handle yourself but because I couldn’t stand watching someone threaten and insult you. You might be able to handle that, but apparently I can’t.”  
  
Chad opened his mouth, then closed it again. He didn’t know what to say for the first time in his life.  
  
“What? I didn’t make you speechless? Never thought that could happen,” Chris chuckled.  
  
And he was kind of cute like that, in a ruggedly handsome way, when he smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling softly and his voice going all deep and whiskey rough.  
  
Oh shit. Chad was so screwed.  
  
  
The conversation in the bar slowly picked up again, but speculations about who would fight and win were carefully avoided. Instead someone raised the topic of how unusual is was for Jared to go into heat in August and how strong his scent was.  
  
A few members of the pack had walked by the Alpha’s house in the course of the day, and even though Jared had been gone since morning, the scent was still so heady and strong that two alphas had started fighting on the spot and the couples in the surrounding houses had basically been mating the whole day.  
  
There had never been a beta to entice a reaction like Jared and people were curious. So they all gathered around the small table at the corner where Loretta Devine was having dinner. She was one of the few Wanderers, a wolf without a pack who moved around from town to town, staying only for a few months at a time. She was considered old and wise, although it was better not to call her that to her face, at least not the old part. If someone could shed some light on this, it would be her.  
  
“Well it’s too early for a normal heat,” she explained. “About two months too early. No wonder his hormones are wrecking havoc with the poor kid.”  
  
“Yeah, but why did he go into heat now?” someone asked.  
  
“Well sometimes a heat can be triggered early, when the right alpha, the true mate, is near. It usually happens in times of big emotional turmoil and vulnerability,” Loretta said.  
  
“True mate?” Rosenbaum asked. “I thought that only happened in fairytales.”  
  
“Oh no, quite the contrary. They’re rare, yes, but they do exist. And they make powerful couples. If your Alpha’s son has found his true mate they are destined for greatness.”  
  
“Well for that this true mate will have to win the fight first,” Mitch said.  
  
Loretta nodded. “I have no doubt he will. Alphas in a true pairing are often very strong and powerful. He should have no trouble, especially when he is spurred on by his mate’s scent.”  
  
“Are you really listening to this bullshit?” Weatherly asked incredulously. “Jared’s just a weird late bloomer, there’s no such thing as true mates. Because if there were, where is this true mate of his, huh? Shouldn’t he have claimed him on sight? I thought the connection is too powerful to resist?” He looked expectantly at Loretta.  
  
“I cannot tell you what happened, Michael, but for me this is the only explanation that makes sense.”  
  
Weatherly scoffed and muttered something about bullshit and old, superstitious hags under his breath, but a few people around the table looked thoughtful.  
  
At the bar, Chad fixed Chris with a hard glare. He leaned in close and it made his heart stutter a little when he saw how Chris’ eyes widened in surprise and his pupils dilated.  
  
“Where is Jensen?” he whispered so quietly no one else would hear.  
  
Chris tried to hide his disappointment and shrugged. “Don’t know.”  
  
Huh. Apparently his alpha was a much better liar than Jared’s but Chad was not deterred. He leaned in again. “And where was Jensen this morning?”  
  
This time Chris sucked in a breath and Chad thought that it was fun, messing with the alpha like that. He kind of understood now why Jared had flirted himself through the past two years of his life.  
  
“I don’t know,” Chris said again and Chad was getting annoyed. What good was it to have an alpha sniffing after him if he couldn’t even get him to spill the deets?  
  
“I don’t believe you.” His mouth was so close to Chris’ ear he could stick out his tongue and lick it, if he wanted. Which he didn’t. Absolutely not.  
  
He saw a muscle in the alpha’s cheek twitch and when he spoke it was though clenched teeth. “I don’t know where Jensen is right now or where he was this morning, because he’s not home and he’s not answering his phone. And before you ask, neither is Jeff. So I have no clue where they are or what’s going on. And if you don’t get your pretty face out of my personal space right now, I’m gonna do things to you, you’re not ready for yet.”  
  
Chad snapped his head back and swallowed. That had been hot. Sort of.  
  
Double shit!  
  
  
  
It seemed like an eternity until Loretta came out of the room they had put Jared in.  
  
Jeff was pacing the floor and while his father was more composed, he could see the tension in his eyes.  
  
“Is he okay?”  
  
Loretta nodded. “The heat is very intense, but he is not sick and he won’t die, if that’s what you mean.”  
  
Jeff felt a giant weight lift off his shoulders.  
  
“Then what is wrong with him?” Gerald asked. “I have never seen a heat like that. Is it because he’s so late?”  
  
“I’m not sure yet.” Loretta sat down at the small kitchen table. “What can you tell me about Jared and Jensen?”  
  
Jeff and his father exchanged a glance. When Jeff had gone back to town to get his father and a beta to help Jared, they had heard the rumors.  
  
“Jensen and I grew up together,” he explained. “Jay was always following us around and Jensen- I don’t know, he just had this endless patience with him. I mean, Jared’s six years younger than us and Jensen still spent time with him, you know, looking after him, that he ate enough fruit and did his homework and stuff like that. He only stopped when Jared was sixteen or so. He never said why, but it was pretty clear to me.”  
  
Loretta looked at him with raised eyebrows.  
  
Jeff huffed. “Jared had started to change, to grow up. Jensen, he didn’t do well with the temptation. So he tried to stay away. He knew that he couldn’t even kiss Jared before he went into heat, so he just avoided him.”  
  
Loretta shook her head. “Stupid boy. That explains it though.”  
  
“Alright,” Gerald’s voice was filled with impatience. “I would appreciate it very much, if you would finally enlighten me as to why my son is lying in that room, completely out of it and clearly suffering an enormous amount of pain!”  
  
Loretta nodded. “Of course. I just needed to get all the facts. Jared and Jensen clearly are true mates. I know that a lot of weres don’t believe in that anymore, but it still happens. I once met a true pairing decades ago up in Canada. It’s quite wondrous, seeing a bond like that. It explains everything. Why Jared and Jensen always were close, despite the age difference. Why Jensen looked out for him even back then. And why Jared’s heat came so late. His body was always used to having his mate around, but when he entered the crucial phase in his development, Jensen disappeared from his life. His body was confused, his mate was suddenly not there anymore and the heat got delayed. If Jensen hadn’t withdrawn then, Jared might have gone into heat years ago. Now, from what I understand you buried the family dog last week.”  
  
“No,”Jeff said. “Harley was much more than the family dog. He was more like Jared’s best friend. I got him for him after our mother and sister died.”  
  
“I see,” Loretta nodded. “An event like that in combination with close proximity with one’s true mate can trigger a heat outside of the natural biyearly cycle. That’s one of the reasons it’s so intense. The other one is that they are true mates. Jared’s body has a stronger desire to mate because on some level he knows that his true mate is out there. It’s a miracle Jensen didn’t claim him on the spot. Can you tell me what happened?”  
  
“We were all there,” Gerald explained. “Jensen asked Jeff to get him out and when they started fighting I threw them out of the house. After that Jensen ran away like the devil was on his heels.”  
  
“Remarkable,” Loretta muttered. “Well the Ackleses always had great character strength.”  
  
“Excuse me?” Jeff asked.  
  
“Well, he is an Ackles, right? A descendant of the white wolves?”  
  
“White wolves?” Jeff was confused, but he could see that it clearly meant something to his father.  
  
“I was never sure. Jensen’s grandmother came to us pregnant and alone over fifty years ago and my grand-mother, who was Alpha back then, gave her shelter. We never asked for her lineage.”  
  
Loretta nodded. “Well, today it doesn’t really matter anymore. It just lends a little bit more credit to my theory. True matings notoriously pop up in the old lines. You have a very ancient heritage yourself, Alpha Padalecki. Your son and Ackles, they have a bright future ahead of them.” A dreamy expression spread over her face. “I think I will visit you again soon. Their children will be wonderful creatures.”  
  
“Yeah, okay, whatever.” Jeff was slowly losing his patience. “That’s all very interesting, but what about Jared now? Is he going to be like that until the fight? Can’t we do anything?”  
  
“Well.” Loretta looked pensive, “you could give him something with Jensen’s scent on it, see if that helps. Otherwise, he’ll just have to wait it out.”  
  
“Great.”  
  
His father shot him a glare and accompanied Loretta out of the cabin. “Thank you so much for your help. You’re welcome here anytime.”  
  
“Oh, I’m not leaving yet!” she told the Alpha. “Seeing one of the white wolves fight, I’m not going to miss that!”  
  
“Good.” Gerald’s voice was getting quieter and Jeff had to strain his ears to hear.  
  
“Maybe we can have another conversation, when this is all over. You seem to know about a lot of things.”  
  
There was a short pause, before Loretta spoke again. “Some people say true mates find each other in times of our greatest needs, times of change and turmoil. You were at the conference, you know what’s going on. Now, I’m not saying that bad things are going to happen, but if they do....”  
  
“Jared and Jensen will be in the middle of it,” Gerald finished for her.  
  
“If. Since currently this is a very big if, I’d say, let’s not worry yet.”  
  
“Yes, you’re right,” Gerald said and Jeff knew his father. That was not his relaxed voice. So it was worse than his father had let on.  
  
His cell phone rang, startling him out of his thoughts and Jensen’s name flashed across the screen. Great. He could tear his friend a new one for delaying Jared’s heat with his stupid gentleman-act and get a shirt from him for Jared.  
  
He heard his brother let out a desperate moan in the other room and answered the phone. “Get your ass to your house, I’ll meet you there in ten.”  
  
  
Jared was in hell. There was no other possible explanation. He knew that heats could suck, but this.... this was purgatory.  
  
His body was burning up and combined with the summer temperatures he felt like he was being roasted on a stick. His whole body was covered in sweat and it didn’t matter how often he showered. The crawling feeling that had been there all of last week had amplified tenfold. His body was prickling like it had fallen asleep and just woken up, he couldn’t concentrate his thoughts on anything and he was half hard the whole time, his body aching to be filled, but he couldn’t get himself off. And he had tried.  
  
And of course, there was Jensen.  
  
The alpha was a constant presence in Jared’s mind, like a movie on an endless loop and every time he banished one memory, new ones popped up. Jared remembered things about Jensen he hadn’t thought of in years, like the one from the summer Jensen was sixteen and they went to the river. Jensen’s body had just started to change, shoulders broadening and muscles developing, his built still slender, but already hinting at things to come. Jared had been ten and hadn’t thought twice about it, but now, looking back at those memories through his heat crazed mind, they made want surge through his belly and his hips twitch.  
  
He fucking hated his biology.  
  
He didn’t know how much time passed until Jeff entered his room.  
  
Jared was trying to listen to some music, but it wasn’t really working. His mind had decided to get stuck on Jensen and how it had felt to kiss him in the park.  
  
Jeff cleared his throat. “So, I talked to Loretta. She thought this might help.”  
  
Jeff threw something over to Jared and he realized it was a shirt, before the smell of it hit him like a punch to the gut. The woods, the sun, spicy and fresh, love and home.  
  
Jensen. Fucking Jensen.  
  
And fucking Jeff.  
  
He wanted to tell his brother to take it back, to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine, but the scent was wrapping around him like a soft blanket and calming down all the demons rushing through his body.  
  
Against his will he brought it up to his face and took a deep breath. His heartbeat started to slow down immediately and that feeling of being incomplete, this feeling of all-consuming loneliness, it went away.  
  
Oh, sure, Jared was still horny as hell, was still running a fever and fantasizing about Jensen’s hands clutching his hips so deliciously tight, but all that hopelessness from before seemed to have vanished.  
  
“Fuck him,” Jared bit out and gripped the shirt tighter. It was white and when Jensen wore it, it brought out the color of his eyes.  
  
“This might help me now, cause my body doesn’t know shit from it’s ass, but it’s not gonna change how I think about him!”  
  
“What the hell are you talking about?” Jeff asked.  
  
“Well, it’s true, isn’t it?” Jared said bitterly. “Nature decided to screw me over and make Jensen my true mate.”  
  
Jeff looked completely confused. “But, Jay, that’s a good thing. Do you even know how rare that is? How strong that connection between you two is?”  
  
“Yeah, I know!” Jared yelled. “I know, but he doesn’t! He doesn’t give a shit about me!”  
  
“Jesus fuck!” Jeff dragged a hand through his hair. “How can you even say that?”  
  
“Because he told me, alright?” Jared got up from the bed and started pacing the room. The burning anger in his gut helped him to keep his mind clear for the moment.  
  
“He told me, to my face, that he didn’t want me!”  
  
“Jay, that’s bullshit. Why would you even talk about that?”  
  
“Because I kissed him.”  
  
“You _what_?” Jeff shouted.  
  
Jared sank back on the bed. The feeling in his chest, like he was missing an important piece of himself, was coming back full force.  
  
“I kissed him. Look, I know it was wrong, but I was upset because of Harley, okay? And I just wanted to make out a little, I mean where’s the harm in that? This no touching the Alpha’s beta children rule is stupid anyway. You got to make out with every beta you wanted. Hell, every other beta can fuck whoever they want, but not me, oh no. I had to stay untouched. That’s just not fucking fair!”  
  
Jeff exhaled loudly and sat down on the bed. “I know that the laws are stupid and Dad’s been working on changing the laws for betas, but there’s only so much he can do before he gets into trouble with the council. Change needs to come slowly and from someone very powerful. But that’s not even the issue here! The issue is that you _kissed_ Jensen! Wait, did he kiss you back? Cause if he did, I swear to all that’s holy-”  
  
“Stop it, Jeff. He didn’t, okay? Not really anyways. And then he told me to stop and...” Jared trailed off. This memory was way too painful to go through again.  
  
Jeff pinched the bridge of his nose, something he only did when he was well and truly pissed, but needed to keep it together.  
  
“Look Jared, whatever it is that you think he said about not wanting you – that’s crap, okay? Jensen cares about you! I mean, don’t you remember when-”  
  
Jared let out a harsh laugh. “Yeah, I remember. I remember everything! And yeah, he cared about me when I was a kid, but he stopped liking me when I grew up.”  
  
“No, Jaybird, he didn’t.” Jeff sounded so sincere, but he hadn’t been there.  
  
Another wave of longing hit Jared, so powerful that he didn’t know how he could live without Jensen there. Every fiber of his being yearned for Jensen; his touch, the warmth of his body, the calming sound of his voice and Jared hated it. He was a beta and Jensen made him suffer for it. Right now, he wasn’t an independent guy anymore, someone whose life was just starting and who had options, right now he was just a bitch in heat, craving his alpha’s knot.  
  
“Just leave me alone, Jeff. I don’t wanna talk about it.”  
  
Jeff let out a frustrated huff. “Fine. But make no mistake, I’ll get Chad out here, maybe he can drill some sense into that stubborn head of yours!”  
  
When Jeff had left, Jared curled up on the bed, pressed his nose into Jensen’s shirt and let the arousal take over. He jerked off, thinking about how Jensen had moaned into his mouth and completely possessed him with just a single kiss, but even though desire was making his vision swim and his mind go fuzzy, when he came it was unsatisfying. His orgasm didn’t do anything except take the edge off.  
  
Jared let out a frustrated scream and threw the shirt across the room.  
  
A few moments later he got up and picked it up again. It didn’t matter that Jensen had rejected him, the alpha was etched into his soul and he just couldn’t let go.  
  
  
Jeff stood outside the little cabin, his whole body vibrating with anger. If he had known about this, he would have punched Jensen more than just once.  
  
So he wasn’t allowed to touch Jared before he went into heat, big deal. Jeff and Jensen had never been straight shooters, getting into trouble their fair share of times when they were still teens, but now, the one time Jensen really should have made an exception, he decided to be a stickler for the rules.  
  
Jeff took out his phone and hit number two on his speed dial. It didn’t ring, just went directly to voicemail.  
  
So Jensen was off in the woods, sulking around somewhere? Fine. Jeff had no problem hunting him down and handing his ass to him for real this time.  
  
He took off his clothes and shifted. He had made Jensen a promise and for that broken look full of desperation that he had just seen on his baby brother’s face, his best friend deserved a serious ass kicking.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chris was sitting on his back porch, drinking a beer and pondering over how he could get that stubborn beta to go out with him, when a large white wolf appeared in his backyard.  
  
“Shit, man, give a guy a warning!”  
  
The wolf just trotted up the porch, shifted into a tall, freckled man and went over to Chris’s emergency stash of clothes. He put on some shorts and a shirt and went inside.  
  
“Well, hello to you, too!” Chris muttered into his beer.  
  
Jensen appeared moments later, a whole six-pack under his arm. He flopped down on the chair next to Chris and he watched in amazement as Jensen took the first bottle, popped the cap and downed the complete thing in one go.  
  
“Rough night?”  
  
Jensen reached for the next beer, opened it and took a large gulp.  
  
“Jared?” Chris asked carefully.  
  
Jensen just stared out into the yard.  
  
“He went into heat four days ago and the fight is tomorrow night. Where the fuck have you been?”  
  
Jensen stayed silent and downed the rest of the bottle.  
  
“Okay.” Chris dragged a hand through his hair in exasperation. “I get it, you had to stay away, keep yourself under control, whatever. I don’t care if you sat wallowing in a tree or if you chased down a mountain lion for some fight action, but man, you need to get your shit together!”  
  
Jensen reached for the next bottle.  
  
“Hello, earth to Jensen!”  
  
Jensen lifted the bottle to his mouth, took several deep mouthfuls and turned to Chris. “Well, I’m here now, aren’t I?”  
  
“Jen, what the fuck is going on? Is it true?” Because if what Loretta had said was true...  
  
“Is what true?” Jensen asked.  
  
“That Jared and you are true mates. Loretta, you know the Wanderer, she said something like that.”  
  
Jensen nodded slowly. “Yeah, I think so. Jeff told me a couple of days ago and I guess it makes sense.”  
  
“Well that’s good news!”  
  
When Jensen didn’t react, Chris got worried. “It is good news, right? Because why wouldn’t it be?”  
  
“Oh, I don’t know,” Jensen said, voice full of bitterness. “Maybe because I told Jared that I had no interest in him and now he thinks that I don’t love him and wants nothing to do with me?”  
  
“Seriously? Where are we, high-school?” Chris couldn’t believe this. “What the hell happened with you two?”  
  
Jensen looked at him with raised eyebrows. “You got something stronger than beer?”  
  
  
Half a bottle of whiskey later and Chris still couldn’t believe it. “It’s like you actively tried to sabotage this. I mean seriously, how stupid can you be?”  
  
“Chris-”  
  
“Does Jeff know about this clusterfuck?”  
  
“Yep,” Jensen said and grabbed another beer.  
  
“Well, what did he say?”  
  
Jensen raised his eyebrows. “What do you think?”  
  
“That bad, huh?”  
  
“Yeah well, I deserved it. What I did to Jared, it’s unforgivable. I wouldn’t blame him if he never spoke to me again.”  
  
“No way, man! I don’t care what happened between you on a fucking park bench, you are getting your shit together right the fuck now! You have a fight to win tomorrow and yeah, I know you can beat them all, but in the end it all rests on the draw. Because if you have one hard fight after another and, let’s say Danneel has only easy fights, this might get hairy, you hear me?”  
  
Jensen looked up. “Danneel is in town?”  
  
“Yeah. And she isn’t the only heavy hitter who came.”  
  
At Jensen’s questioning expression Chris snorted. “Don’t look so surprised, the Padalecki name is a powerful draw and you know it. Also don’t underestimate Jared’s reputation. People talk. So it’s time to get your head out of your ass and strategize.”  
  
Jensen sighed. “Alright, just give me a moment.”  
  
He got up and walked into the house. Chris could hear the tab running and when Jensen came out again, his hair was dripping wet and he was wiping his face dry with a kitchen towel.  
  
“Okay, hit me. Who’s here?”  
  
Chris started counting the contestants on his fingers. “Well, like I said, Danneel is here. So is Aldis Hodge. Tom rolled into town today and I think those are the three you need to watch the most.”  
  
Jensen nodded slowly. “I never fought Aldis Hodge, but I can beat Danneel and Tom. It’s going to be hard, but doable.”  
  
“You’ll also be able to beat Hodge,” Chris told him. “I saw him fight last year and I’m not gonna deny that he’s good, maybe even better than Tom or Danneel, but you can take him.”  
  
“Good. Anybody else?”  
  
“There are a couple of weres from other states, Arizona and New Mexico and the likes, but nothing too worrisome. Probably twenty alphas in total.” Chris paused. “There is someone else from Texas though.”  
  
Jensen looked at him. “Yeah? Who?”  
  
“Sterling Brown.”  
  
“You’re kidding me! How does that little shit even dare to think about coming here?”  
  
Chris huffed. “Oh, come on, you know what kind of political coup it would be for Brown’s pack to get Jared. His daddy would have whole new grounds for renegotiation and you know how pissed they were when they had to give up some of their territory. Not to mention that Brown hates you and Jeff with a passion. Now, he can’t touch you, but if he could take it out on Jared...” Chris trailed off.  
  
Jensen’s face was dark with fury and Chris was glad he had never been on the receiving end of that look. “I will rip him apart before I let him within ten feet of Jared. God, I should have killed him when I had the chance!”  
  
“But you didn’t, because the political blow out of killing another Alpha’s son would have been craptastic,” Chris reminded him. “You took the high road.”  
  
Jensen looked grim. “Not tomorrow, I won’t.”  
  
Chris looked back out into the yard and took a long drag from his bottle. “Nobody expects you to.”

 

 


	4. Blaze

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains extremely graphic violence and minor character death

The scent of heat was heavy in the air. It hung in the clearing, clung to the surrounding trees and whispered promises of soft, wet ardency to all the alphas.  
  
Jared was sitting between his father and his brother, the only alphas completely unaffected by the pheromones he was giving off. Even the mated alphas felt their blood heating up, racing faster through their veins and most of them would claim their mates in a passionate frenzy before the night was over.  
  
The whole pack was there, watching, as one after another the alphas who wanted to fight showed up and threw their names into the wooden bowl in the middle of the clearing.  
  
It was the oldest possession the pack had, made by the Alpha’s ancestors back when they still lived in Europe. Four beautifully carved wolves were standing in a circle, their heads thrown back as if they were howling up to the moon. Their snouts held the big round bowl, covered in shapes that mimicked the clouds in the sky, surrounding the full moon.  
  
Chad stood under a big oak, observing the alphas. The first ones to throw in their names had been the outsiders, but several from their own pack had also entered their names.  
  
The sun was slowly setting behind the treetops and the fires were lit. As soon as the sun was completely gone, Jim Beaver would take the names out of the bowl and start drawing the pairings.  
  
“Hey.” Chad turned and saw Chris standing beside him. “How’s Jared holding up?”  
  
Chad let out an condescending sound. “What do you think? I visited him every day and trust me, it wasn’t pretty.”  
  
“Hm.” Chris jerked his head in the direction of the bowl. “How many?”  
  
“Ten so far,” Chad answered. “Mostly the ones from the other packs, although of course Weatherly had to make a big show of putting his name in there. You should have seen his face when he realized Jared was not impressed. Priceless!”  
  
Chris chuckled. “It’s gonna be good to see that bastard finally get what’s coming to him. If there was ever a wolf in this pack who deserved to die, it’s him.”  
  
Chad raised his eyebrows. “You ever gonna tell me why you and Jensen hate him so much?”  
  
Chris shook his head. “Can’t. Not my story to tell.”  
  
“Okay. But do you really think Jensen would kill him?”  
  
Chris looked pensively over to Weatherly. “Not normally he wouldn’t, but like this.... maybe.”  
  
They watched as a beautiful redheaded woman walked up to the bowl, winked at Jared and threw her name in.  
  
Chad whistled. “Now that I could get behind. Or in front of,” he snickered.  
  
Chris stiffened beside him and Chad laughed harder.  
  
They continued to watch the alphas until about half the wolves from outside the pack and about six of their own had entered their names.  
  
“That makes fourteen and the sun is almost completely down,” Chad observed. “Where the hell is he?”  
  
Chris shook his head. “Said he had to go clear his head. But he’ll be here.”  
  
“He better.”  
  
“Hey, what about them?” Chris asked and pointed at a group of about twenty alphas who were standing by the side of the clearing.  
  
Chad snorted. “Oh, the sissies? They’re waiting to see if Jensen shows up. Because once the name is in the bowl....”  
  
“There’s no way out,” Chris finished for him.  
  
“Exactly. So, they’re gonna wait until Beaver announces last call and then throw their names in. They don’t even care that it’s going to make them look like cowards to everyone, apparently they all think Jensen will kill them in a fight.”  
  
Chris looked disgusted. “I can’t believe I train a bunch of cowards.”  
  
“They’re not all ours, there are some from other packs as well.”  
  
“Huh. Well, I guess Jensen’s reputation is more impressive than we thought.”  
  
Chad nodded. “The guy in the back came all the way from South Carolina.”  
  
“Like I said, cowards.”  
  
Suddenly the clearing went quiet, then a murmur went through the crowd. Chad looked around and when he saw who had just stepped out of the treeline, relief flooded through him.  
  
Jensen paid the excitement around him no heed, his eyes were solely fixed on Jared. Jared had half gotten out of his seat, but Jeff pulled him down again. The scent of heat intensified and Chad could see his friend gripping his brother’s hand tight as if to anchor himself.  
  
Jensen started walking towards the bowl, never taking his eyes off Jared.  
  
He was barefoot and only wearing a pair of washed-out jeans slung low on his hips, but even like that he exuded more majesty and power than all of the other alphas ever could hope to, even if they would be wearing a crown and a scepter.  
  
The sun was almost completely gone and the shadows cast by the fires danced over Jensen’s face, making him look like a god of war from the old times, all sharp angles and burning eyes, every muscle in his body coiled, ready to strike at the slightest provocation.  
  
He reached the bowl and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. He held it up, like he was showing it to Jared, who was staring transfixed at Jensen’s hand as if it held the answers to all of life’s questions. Chad thought that in that moment, for Jared, it probably did.  
  
Then Jensen opened his hand, let the paper fall into the bowl and made his way slowly up to the podium where the Alpha family sat.  
  
He only shifted his eyes from Jared when he knelt before the Alpha in the ritual bow of respect. Gerald nodded in answer and it didn’t escape Chad, nor anybody else probably, that Jensen was the only alpha to receive the tiniest hint of a smile from the Alpha’s otherwise serious face.  
  
Jensen got up and went over to the other alphas.  
  
They were in various states of undress, although most of them had only shed shoes and shirts. Weatherly, of course, was prancing around in some tighty whities, showing off his knot. He was staring hard at Jensen, hatred so clear in his eyes that Chad was worried for a second. Jensen didn’t spare him a single glance though, instead he went over to Danneel and started talking quietly with her.  
  
Weatherly went over to the group of alphas who had chickened out of the fight because of Jensen and Chad watched him talk to Christopher Heyerdahl. He was one of the older guys and Chad had wondered what he was doing there in the first place.  
  
This time, he felt Chris’s presence even before the alpha spoke. “What are you looking at?”  
  
“Weatherly and Heyerdahl. What do you think is that about?”  
  
Chris smirked. “Heyerdahl used to train us when we were younger, before we spent the summers with Morgan’s pack. Probably thinks he can give him some pointers against Jensen, not that that’s gonna help him.”  
  
  
  
  
Jim Beaver stepped into the middle of the clearing and waited until everyone was quiet.  
  
Ever since the death of Sharon Padalecki he had acted as pack Beta. He was also the school teacher and generally loved and respected by the pack for his gruff but caring manner.  
  
When it was completely silent in the clearing, Jim pulled the first piece of paper out of the bowl.  
  
“Jake Abel,” he announced.  
  
Jake got up and walked over to Jim under the applause of the crowd.  
  
It got quiet again when Jim drew the next name. “Danneel Harris.”  
  
Danneel grinned and joined Jim and Jake.  
  
Mike starting making the rounds quickly, collecting money and taking notes of the bets. It was clear that Jake was the favorite. He was the best fighter of the young alphas and he towered over Danneel.  
  
“She eats pups like him for breakfast,” Chris said quietly, amusement in his voice.  
  
Chad turned to the alpha. “You sure?”  
  
“Oh yeah. I’ve seen her in action, trust me, she’s vicious.”  
  
When Mike reached them, Chad bet a fifty on Danneel.  
  
  
Jake and Danneel quickly shed their remaining clothes and shifted. In her wolf form Danneel was bigger than Abel and Chad could see some pack members starting to look worried.  
  
They walked into the middle of the clearing, taking positions at opposite sides of the ring. For a moment everything was still, then they charged.  
  
Chris was right. The fight was over before it really began. Danneel ducked under Jake’s first lunge, raised up on her hind legs and threw the younger alpha on his back. Jake had no time to recover before her jaw closed around his throat and he had to bare his neck in defeat.  
  
There were two more fights, the first one between a pack member and a were from Nevada, that their alpha won very clearly and another one between one contestant from Arizona and Sterling Brown. Despite everybody cheering for the alpha from Arizona, Brown was the victor.  
  
When Jim drew the next name a smile flitted over his face. “Jensen Ackles.”  
  
Jensen stepped forward and Chad could see how the remaining contestants were staring with trepidation at the pack Beta. The scent of fear was suddenly very sharp in the clearing and next to him Chris chuckled.  
  
Jim reached into the bowl a second time. “Aldis Hodge.”  
  
The relief that went through the alphas was almost palpable. Aldis stepped forward, head held high and no sign of fear on his face. The rapidly beating pulse at his neck didn’t lie, though. He shook hands with Jensen and they exchanged a few words, too quiet for Chad to hear.  
  
“This is gonna be interesting,” Chris said.  
  
“Why?”  
  
“They just wished each other a fair fight. Usually, a situation like this, you trash talk your opponent. We might actually get to see a clean fight here.”  
  
  
The fight might have been clean, but it was bloody.  
  
They seemed evenly matched, Jensen’s body longer, but Aldis`s heavier with muscles. They were complete opposites, Aldis`s dark gray fur against Jensen’s almost completely white.  
  
Their stalking forms were casting long shadows on the ground and for a long time they were just circling around each other until suddenly, like two puppets pulled by the same string, they jumped at each other.  
  
Aldis was clearly a skilled fighter, his movements strong and sure, but Jensen was faster. They were clawing and biting at each other for a long time, tearing flesh open and painting the ground beneath them red with blood. It wasn’t long before both of them were covered in numerous wounds, but neither one of them showed any sign of fatigue. They separated again, circling each other and in the sudden quiet Chad thought he could hear Chris’s heartbeat next to him.  
  
They were moving slower now, not because of exhaustion, but because they were being more deliberate. The first clash had been all about figuring out the opponent, finding weaknesses in the other`s defense and now came the time to act on it.  
  
This time it was Aldis who attacked first. His jaw snapped at Jensen’s throat, trying to get his teeth around it, but the white wolf evaded him. They didn’t part again though, Aldis kept pushing himself into Jensen’s space, trying to use his bigger weight to his advantage until he managed to throw Jensen to the ground and they started rolling around in the clearing.  
  
It was difficult to see who had the upper hand, their movements too fast and Chad saw some people placing last minute bets. Apparently the odds were shifting in Aldis favor.  
  
Chris snorted. “Stupid mutts. Aldis has about thirty seconds left before his back hits the ground.”  
  
Chad looked at the fighting alphas more closely, tried to see what Chris had seen and there it was. Something in Jensen’s eyes as he wrestled free and the two wolves were once again circling around each other.  
  
Jensen feinted to the right, Aldis shot forwards and Jensen twisted. Instead of getting his teeth around Jensen’s neck, Aldis got a painful, but ineffective bite into Jensen’s shoulder, while the other alpha’s jaws closed around his throat. Jensen jerked his body back hard and Aldis hit the ground, Jensen’s teeth still firmly clamping down on his throat. For a moment it was quiet in the clearing, then Aldis let out a low whine to signal his defeat and Jensen slowly released him.  
  
His body was covered in several small wounds, the red blood making a stark contrast on his white coat, but he was standing strong, breathing almost evenly and the pack cheered for his victory.  
  
  
Jensen watched the other fights of the first round sitting at the edge of the clearing with Danneel. Neither of them had bothered shifting back into their human bodies and neither one of them had the desire to talk.  
  
Jensen was all too aware of Jared’s presence on the other side of the clearing, his heady scent curling around him like a heavy cloak of desire, but he needed to keep his head clear. There were some fighters among the winners of the first round who could pose to be a problem, Danneel being one of them. Jensen was sure that he could beat all of them, it only mattered how battered and exhausted he and his opponents would be in the last rounds. There were only three names left now and Jensen raised his head to see who would get a free pass for the first round.  
  
After Mitch Pileggi had defeated an alpha from the outskirts of their territory with surprising speed and agility for a were his age, Jim Beaver stepped forward again.  
  
“Tom Welling.”  
  
Jensen and Danneel exchanged a look. It was a good thing that one of the better fighters hadn’t gotten a free pass.  
  
The only two alphas left were Michael Weatherly and a wolf from New Mexico.  
  
Jim drew the next slip of paper. “Erica Durance.”  
  
Jensen groaned internally. Of course it was the asshole who got the free pass.  
  
With the way of the draw Jensen would only meet Weatherly if they both made it to the final. Jensen had no doubts about himself, but Weatherly would have to fight Welling in the next round, because Tom had just put his first opponent to the ground without much fuss and from the way money was changing hands now, he had just become one of the new favorites.  
  
Danneel’s next opponent was Kim Rhodes, an alpha from their pack and only in the fight for the fun of it with no real prospect to win. She and Jensen were actually friends and Jensen didn’t hold it against her that she had joined the competition.  
  
In her first round she had beaten an asshole from Nevada, making the pack proud. It wouldn’t help her against Danneel though.  
  
The fight lasted marginally longer than Danneel's first one had, but again she threw Kim on her back with her signature move. She had told Jensen once that she had studied lions fighting in Africa.  
  
Jensen’s next fight was against Sterling Brown.  
  
The mood of the crowed shifted, they didn’t want to see a good fight anymore, they wanted to see Brown’s heart ripped out. The amount of grief his pack had caused theirs was too much to forget. And if he took Jared home the ensuing political mess would be gigantic. Not to mention that he was one mean son of a bitch.  
  
He had beaten a were from Arizona in his first round, an easy fight and had shifted back into his human body. He was smirking at Jensen now, taunting him with various comments about his mother’s abilities, but Jensen stayed calm. Brown would have to shut up soon enough.  
  
“What’s the matter, Jenny? You staying wolf, because you don’t know what to say? Lemme tell you, your mommy had plenty to say last night, when I banged her good. She-”  
  
“That’s enough!” Jim’s voice cut through the clearing like a whip.  
  
“You are here as our guest and allowed to participate in the fight, but I will not let you insult members of this pack who have no part in it. Either you shut up or you go home!”  
  
Brown glared at Jim. “Don’t worry, I can’t wait to leave this pack anyway. Whoever allows betas to talk to an alpha like that,” but Jim interrupted his tirade.  
  
“Nobody’s stopping you, boy. And you better remember that respect has to be earned and you sure as hell did nothing ever in your life to get any. Now stop arguing and get in the ring. Or are you too scared of Jensen having your hide?” Jim was fixing Brown with a hard glare and the alpha scowled, but shifted and walked into the ring.  
  
Jensen bared his teeth at him in a wolfish grin. This would be so much fun.  
  
  
  
Jensen was panting heavily, blood seeping out of his body from several nasty bites. Sterling Brown just wouldn’t go down.  
  
Jensen had had his throat between his jaws, but instead of surrendering like the unwritten rules demanded, Brown had twisted away in a near suicidal move, tearing his own throat open and only narrowly missing getting his carotid slashed. He was bleeding profusely, but he refused to give up. Jensen probably would have to kill him. Somehow, in the haze of fight and heat, he didn’t really mind.  
  
They charged again and this time when they were wrestling around on the ground, Brown started to shift, letting his paws change to something resembling hands. He gripped Jensen’s leg tight and twisted.  
  
Jensen howled in pain and limped a few steps back. His leg wasn’t broken, but severely sprained and Jensen saw red. That cheating bastard was going to die right the fuck now.  
  
  
“What the fuck? Did he just-?” Chad couldn’t believe what he’d just seen.  
  
“Oh yeah.” Chris face was grim. “Doesn’t really surprise me that the little snake cheated, but this...unbelievable. Even if he’d win, how does he think he’s going to get away with this?”  
  
Almost everybody in the clearing seemed to have seen it as well, if the murmurs were anything to go by and Chad looked up to the Alpha family. The Alpha’s face was calm, revealing nothing, but Jeff and Jared both had expressions of fury on their faces and Chad had no doubt that if something were to happen to Jensen, they would rip Brown apart.  
  
Chad didn’t need to worry though, because despite the pain he must be feeling, Jensen didn’t slow down one bit. Brown kept attacking him on his weak side though and suddenly Jensen stumbled, injured leg giving out beneath him and Brown pounced. Jensen turned lightning fast and got his head below Brown’s. He pushed up with both legs as if his front paw hadn’t just been turned in a wringer and sank his teeth into Brown’s throat. He jerked his head back and a strong arterial blood spray coated his face and chest with red spots, joining the golden ones already there.  
  
“Sneaky bastard,” Chris murmured approvingly.  
  
Brown’s body fell lifelessly to the ground and the pack howled.  
  
Chad could feel the triumph rushing through him and when Chris howled next to him, he joined him.  
  
Jensen shot Jared a bloody grin before he looked back to the rest of the competitors, baring his teeth at them, his face a red mask and Chad could see real fear ripple through the remaining alphas. Jensen was out for blood now and the message was clear: he would destroy anybody in his path.  
  
  
The following fight was a bloody match between Mitch and an alpha from California, that Mitch won, but just barely. At his age, he wouldn’t regenerate fast enough to be back in fighting shape for the next round.  
  
  
Tom Welling and Michael Weatherly were up after that and the pack was clearly split in sympathy. On the one hand they wanted one of their own to win, but most people thought Weatherly was a pompous jerk and would love for him to be taken down a peg.  
  
When Alona reminded them that Jensen would eviscerate anybody who would be his final opponent anyway, the pack relaxed and started cheering Weatherly on.  
  
  
Jensen had shifted back to his human body to get the blood off his face and examine the damage to his right hand more closely. He experimentally flexed his wrist, all too aware of the eyes burning into him. When he turned around, Jared was staring at him, completely ignoring the two fighting wolves in the ring.  
  
Jensen tried to give his mate an assuring smile, his wrist had already started to heal slowly, but there was no reaction on Jared’s face.  
  
His face was shiny with sweat and Jensen could see his pulse beating rapidly even from where he was sitting, so it was no wonder. Jared was trapped in his heat and he needed Jensen to help him out of it, the faster the better.  
  
He took the water bottle someone handed him and drank about half of it in one big swallow. He needed to replenish his fluids if he wanted to heal up quickly.  
  
“Will you look at that.” Danneel was back in her human body as well, completely unashamed of her nudity and pointing at the fight. “What the hell?”  
  
Something was going on down there and Jensen had no idea what it was. Welling should have torn Weatherly apart, instead his movements were slow and clipped and he completely ignored several openings in Weatherly's defense.  
  
“Is Tom losing on purpose?” Danneel asked incredulously.  
  
Jensen didn’t know why he would do that until his eyes landed on Mike. The beta was standing at the other side off the ring, clearly torn between worry and joy, eyes firmly trained on Tom. Oh.  
  
“Look over there,” Jensen said and pointed over to Mike.  
  
Danneel followed the line of his finger and it took her only a second to figure it out. “Ah. Well, it’s a shame that he isn’t being harder on Weatherly, but I’m glad for him. Tom deserves to be happy.”  
  
Jensen nodded and at that moment, Weatherly threw Tom down. Tom didn’t resist at all, baring his throat even before Weatherly's teeth closed around it and the fight was over.  
  
A battered Mitch would fight a well-rested Weatherly in the semi-final, right after Jensen and Danneel had it out.  
  
She put a hand on his arm when he started to get up. “Jensen. We’ve been friends for a long time and I would like for that to continue after this fight. You know I’m only doing this because my father sent me here, right?”  
  
Jensen gave a jerky nod. “You could still throw the fight, like Tom. I mean you gotta know you can’t win this one against me. And I’m not gonna go easy on you, just because we’re friends.”  
  
Danneel gave him a sad smile. “I’m sorry, but I do have my pride. Besides, people are watching and I can guarantee you my old man will get an accurate account of what happened here tonight. But don’t worry, I’m sure at the end of the night you’ll still take your mate home.”  
  
Then she shifted and walked towards the ring. Jensen got up, took one last gulp from his bottle, the water leaving a sour taste in his mouth and followed her. This was the one fight he wasn’t looking forward to.  
  
  
Jared gripped his brother’s hand again when Jensen entered the ring for his third fight.  
  
His opponent was the female alpha with the coat in the color of fire, who had winked at him when she’d entered her name. Jeff, who had kept up a running commentary of all the fighters, had told him that her name was Danneel, she was from one of the largest California packs and she and Jensen were actually old friends.  
  
Irrational jealousy had surged through Jared, not because of her, she was an alpha after all, but that Jensen had friends he didn’t know about. Not for the first time he regretted that he had never talked to Jensen during the last couple of years, not that it would have changed anything.  
  
Jared didn’t care how often Chad and Jeff had told him during the last days that Jensen would enter the fight because he wanted him, they hadn’t been there that day in the park, hadn’t seen the loathing and disgust in his eyes.  
  
Jensen was doing it because of their biology, not because he actually wanted him, Jared knew, but that didn’t keep his body from yearning for his touch.  
  
Jared closed his eyes for a moment and took several deep breathes. The heat was still wreaking havoc in his body, during the last days a beta usually got a clearer head, being used to the constant need clawing under his skin, but the desire of being knotted was way worse, his body demanding to finally be given what it needed.  
  
All the alphas in the clearing emitting smells of aggression, want and fight didn’t help at all. And when Jensen had entered the clearing and Jared had caught his strong, clear scent, like sun and an afternoon in the woods with a hint of dark spiciness, he had instantly gone hard and felt slick drip from his hole.  
  
Jeff had shot him a sympathetic look and told him to hold on and if that wasn’t embarrassing, Jared didn’t know what was.  
  
Jensen and the other alpha were circling each other and even though she had a very unusual coat, a deep shining red, rare and beautiful, she had nothing on Jensen.  
  
When Jensen had been younger, his fur had sort of been dirty blond, the only white on the underside of his belly, but after he had hit puberty and popped his knot, he had shed most of the darker hairs, leaving him with an almost completely white coat. Only the hairs on his back were of a light brown, almost golden color and there were a few very light spots splattered across his chest, like the freckles he had when he was human.  
  
He looked regal and powerful, a grace to his step that most alphas his size lacked and he was lean, rather than bulky, while still imposing, with hard muscles visibly moving under his skin.  
  
The sight of him made Jared’s whole body vibrate from deep within.  
  
Jensen and Danneel were almost evenly matched in stature, the female alpha only a little bit smaller, putting her on the larger part of the scale as well. Jared tried to remember that Jeff had told him that Danneel would not be a problem, Jensen had almost always beaten her in training fights. Almost.  
  
When they charged at each other, Jared gripped Jeff’s hand tighter. Seeing Jensen out there, fighting for him and not being able to do anything, to help him in anyway was pure torture.  
  
He winced with every hit Danneel got in, felt the pain of every wound, old and new, as if it was being inflicted on his own body and when Danneel tried to bring Jensen down the way she had the other alphas, Jared couldn’t suppress a cry.  
  
Jensen clearly saw it coming though, twisting to the side but he was too slow. Danneel sped forward and sank her teeth into his flank.  
  
Jensen rolled over and away, Danneel's teeth leaving a giant gash just below his ribs, but he got up nonetheless and jumped at her so fast she had no time to adjust her stance. Jensen brought her down and they tumbled across the ground in a flurry of white and red until suddenly there was a pained yelp and then Jensen got up and Danneel stayed down.  
  
His jaw was closed threateningly around her throat and for a moment it seemed like she would not surrender, but then Jensen growled and clamped his jaws down harder and the red wolf bared her neck.  
  
Jared let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and when Jensen looked at him, standing in the clearing, covered and blood and dirt, bleeding from numerous wounds, but his head held high, and his eyes glowing green, he shuddered and felt a new wave of want rush through him. The need to go over to him and present himself to his mate was so strong, the only thing keeping him in his seat was Jeff’s hand digging into his arm.  
  
  
  
Halfway through his fight with Danneel his vision started to get blurry. Jensen shook his head, but it didn’t get better. Instead he started to feel dizzy. He hadn’t lost enough blood to feel like this, but he couldn’t think about that now, because if he didn’t give Danneel his full attention she would rip him apart.  
  
She tried to take him down, wounding him badly, but he succeeded in evading her.  
  
After that, everything was a little fuzzy, but he managed to get a deep bite into her front leg, which made her yelp and stumble and then his teeth closed around her throat and Danneel surrendered.  
  
He looked up to Jared, dizziness momentarily forgotten and drank in the sight of his mate, cheeks flushed so deliciously red and concern clear in his eyes now. Then he turned around and trotted off to the side.  
  
The light-headedness came back full force, making him nauseous and Jensen just managed to reach the trees before he threw up the meager contents of his stomach.  
  
What the hell?  
  
Suddenly Chris was kneeling next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Hey man, you okay?”  
  
Jensen shifted and promptly fell back on his ass. “Shit, my head.”  
  
“You’re scaring me here, man. Your injuries don’t look that bad and you’ve definitely fought with worse before.”  
  
Jensen nodded. “This is not the injuries.”  
  
Chris brought up his face to his and looked deep into his eyes. “Holy shit, you’re pupils are shot!”  
  
“Yeah.” Jensen rubbed his face, trying to chase away the fog slowly closing in on him. “I think somebody poisoned me.”  
  
His own voice sounded far away and when he looked back at Chris, his friend’s face was fuzzy. Fuck.  
  
“'M gonna kill tha bastard. Rip his f'ck'n limbs off!”  
  
“Fuck, Jensen you can’t fight like this!” Chris’s voice sounded like someone talking under water.  
  
Jensen started shaking his head, but that was a bad idea, very bad idea. He gripped his head and doubled over with the pain. God, when he found that fucker....  
  
He looked up and through the haze he saw Michael Weatherly standing in the ring, a paw on the unmoving body of Mitch Pileggi, smirking at him and suddenly it was crystal clear.  
  
Of course Weatherly had poisoned him. Even better. That meant he finally had an excuse to kill that sorry piece of shit.  
  
Jensen forced himself to shift, his whole body screaming in pain and then he slowly got up.  
  
Chris said something to him, but he couldn’t understand a single word. It didn’t matter anyway, all that mattered was tearing Weatherly apart and claiming Jared.  
  
Jared.  
  
Jensen took a deep breath and his mate’s sweet scent filled his nose, chasing some of the dizziness away. He just needed to focus on Jared and everything would be fine. There was no way Weatherly would stop him from claiming his mate.  
  
Jensen’s movements were slow and sluggish and his vision was blurry. Blood was still dripping from his wounds, pooling on the ground between his paws and he realized that the poison was somehow impairing his healing abilities. It didn’t matter though, Weatherly was a dead man.  
  
He should have killed him eight years ago for what he did to Josh, but he’d still been a teenager back then and Weatherly already a fully grown member of the guards. He had still kicked his ass, but he would never have gotten away with killing him.  
  
Now though, now nobody would give him any grief about this.  
  
He bared his teeth and charged.  
  
Weatherly was good, not as good as Aldis or Danneel, but Jensen thought he was running on about fifty percent so it was an even fight.  
  
He dodged Weatherly's jaws and for a moment his injured leg gave out beneath him, making him fall to the ground and the other alpha pounced. Jensen managed to get him off and then they circled each other until the next attack.  
  
Lather, rinse, repeat.  
  
Jensen lost all sense of time, the haze clouding his judgment, he was running purely on instinct now. Jared’s scent was curling around him, guiding him through the haze of the drug, the only goal to take down his opponent. Weatherly got several more hits in, but he was bleeding profusely, too.  
  
They broke apart again and Jensen noticed that the fog around his mind had thinned. The drug must have started to wear off. He shook his head and his vision focused.  
  
He saw panic flitter over Weatherly's face and gave him a toothy grin. Time was on his side and it had come now.  
  
He risked a quick look at Jared, found those ever-changing eyes fixed firmly on him and turned back to Weatherly. He summoned all his strength and charged.  
  
The other wolf tried to evade him, but Jensen saw the move he made even before it was fully executed and adjusted his own movement accordingly. He slammed into the other alpha hard and they went down.  
  
Weatherly tried to weasel away, but Jensen got his jaw around his leg and bit down. He could feel the bones break under his teeth and Weatherly let out a pained howl. Jensen ground his jaws together, pulverizing the bones between his teeth before he released the leg and lunged for Weatherly's throat.  
  
Finally he had Weatherly's pulse between his teeth. Just a little more pressure...  
  
Through the haze of the fight he could hear the pitiful whimpers the other alpha was making. He was literally pleading for his life.  
  
Damn. It would be so easy to kill him. His inner alpha was out for blood, wanted to feel red hot liquid spilling over his tongue and Jensen _really_ wanted to give it to him.  
  
Fuck.  
  
Jensen stared down at Weatherly in disgust and through the lingering haze of the drug he could hear the pack’s whispers. Poison was the word he heard, someone poisoned Jensen.  
  
It was so very tempting, Weatherly had tried to take his mate away by cheating, but he knew that the pack’s court would deal swiftly and harshly with him. The other alpha deserved to die for so many reasons, but he was begging for his life and Jensen just couldn’t ignore that. He internally cursed the other alpha’s weakness, did that bastard have no pride?  
  
He released Weatherly's throat and shot him one more look filled with repulsion before turning around to make his way to the podium. His mate was waiting for him and that piece of shit didn’t deserve one more second of his attention. Besides, with the way he had crushed Weatherly's leg, the other wolf would have a limp for the rest of his life. Depending on the court’s decision that might be a very short time though.  
  
Jared’s eyes were trained on him and he couldn’t look away. Finally Jared would be his mate. After years of waiting he could finally claim him.  
  
He saw Jared’s eyes widen in horror, fixed on something behind him and Jensen felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.  
  
He swirled around in time to duck the sharp teeth aiming for his side and then Weatherly's body slammed into him. The impact made Jensen dizzy.  
  
For a moment Jensen couldn’t believe it, but then again the fucker had tried to poison him. But attacking him from behind after being defeated in front of the whole pack, the other wolf must have lost his mind. Also, he had just signed his death warrant.  
  
Jensen broke free and snarled at Weatherly. He focused through the remnants of the fog still surrounding his mind and steadied his stance. The other wolf snarled back and charged, his limp making his movements slow and unsteady. Jensen let him come and instead of dodging him, he met him head on. Weatherly clearly hadn’t expected that and Jensen got his jaws around his opponent’s head and closed them hard.  
  
Weatherly yowled and Jensen felt a disgusting taste flood his mouth. He drew back, closing his jaws and ripping one of Weatherly's ears off. They separated and the other wolf was shaking his head like crazy, trying to get the blood off and Jensen realized he had also taken one of the other alpha’s eyes. Good.  
  
His next attack was on Weatherly's blind side. His movements were almost back to normal, the rage helping him clear his mind even more and he buried his teeth in Weatherly's side as deep as possible. Blood filled his mouth and with a sharp jerk he ripped Weatherly's flank open. His intestines spilled out on the ground and the other wolf howled in agony before he collapsed.  
  
Jensen slowly stalked over to Weatherly's head, enjoying his desperate whimpers.  
  
The crowd was in a frenzy now, demanding Weatherly's head on a plate and Jensen would give it to them.  
  
He stopped right before Weatherly's good eye and raised his front paw. With one single move he slashed the eye, blinding the other wolf completely. He howled again, quieter now though. His werewolf healing was still keeping him alive, but even if Jensen did nothing the injuries were too extensive.  
  
Jensen didn’t want to do nothing though, his inner alpha craving blood. This creature had wanted to take his mate by cheating. He deserved death.  
  
He lowered his head, closed his teeth around Weatherly's throat and bit down. He could feel it when he severed the carotid artery and pulled his head back. Blood was dripping down his muzzle and Weatherly twitched one last time, before his heart stopped beating.  
  
Jensen threw his head back and howled and the pack howled with him.  
  
Blood was still running down the side of his face, but the drug’s effect was finally wearing off. He still felt a little bit dizzy, probably a combination of the drug and the blood loss, but now with the adrenalin of the fight slowly ebbing off, his senses registered his surroundings in full force.  
  
He was assaulted by the scents of blood, fight, fear and excitement and above all the sweetest scent of heat, promising him his mate.  
  
Jensen looked up to the platform where Jared had stood up.  
  
Gerald gave him a nod and Jared started taking off his clothes and for one glorious moment Jared was completely naked, skin glowing softly in the firelight and Jensen wanted to claw everyone’s eyes out who dared to look at his mate.  
  
Jared shifted and walked towards Jensen.  
  
He had always been a beautiful wolf, with his strong, slender body and the dark chocolate brown coat, the only white in his fur the socks on his hind legs. Now that his body had gone through it’s final transformation he looked even more beautiful. His fur looked softer and shinier, his step was more graceful and there was a slight sway in his hips.  
  
It was the most beautiful thing Jensen had ever seen. Then Jared bared his teeth and growled.


	5. Consume

 

Jensen’s reaction was instant, triumph and anger surging through him simultaneously.  
  
Of course Jared would fight him, no beta worth his salt just rolled over for his alpha, but Jensen thought he had proven himself quite enough in the course of the night and he was fucking tired. Thank god this fight was only a ritualistic part of the claiming process.  
  
He growled back at Jared and pounced.  
  
To his surprise did Jared not only jump out of the way, but also snapped his jaws at him, managing to catch him in the side and draw blood.  
  
Jensen felt his hackles rise and narrowed his eyes. So Jared was still pissed at him. Normally, if he had a clear head, he would probably be able to understand that, but right now he didn’t have the patience.  
  
He’d been aroused from the first time he had entered the clearing and caught Jared’s scent and the fights hadn’t helped at all with the desire burning deep within him. He was the victorious alpha, Jared was his prize and if the little beta thought he could play games with Jensen and make him jump through hoops, he had another thing coming.  
  
Jensen growled again, more menacing this time and lunged in earnest.  
  
Their fight was vicious and not short.  
  
Jensen didn’t want to hurt his mate, but Jared seemed to have no such reservations. He bit and scratched at Jensen and got more than a few hits in.  
  
Jared was strong for a beta, wily and well-trained by his brother and Jensen was tired. It still shouldn’t have taken so long, but the heat was giving Jared more strength, driving his movements and for a moment Jensen didn’t know how he could bring him down without hurting him.  
  
Then Jared threw himself at him again, Jensen jumped to the side and in that short second when Jared had his back to him, Jensen twisted around, every muscle in his bruised body protesting and pounced on Jared’s back. He let his bigger weight help him pin his writhing mate to the ground and wasted no time getting his teeth into Jared’s neck.  
  
He bit down deeper than he had meant to, felt hot blood spilling into his mouth and it was the sweetest taste he’s ever had, full of home and mine and mate.  
  
Jared immediately stilled under him and it was only with the greatest effort that Jensen could tear himself off of Jared. He didn’t want to let him go, wanted to force him to present and claim him right fucking now, but he couldn’t do that to Jared. He had always hated this archaic part of the ritual, leaving the beta no choice.  
  
He walked around his mate, took in his trembling flanks and rapid breathing and only stopped when they were face to face.  
  
Jensen stared deep into Jared’s eyes and saw desire, confusion and anger warring inside them. Blood was slowly dripping down from the bite on his neck, but he stared back at Jensen and didn’t move.  
  
Jensen bared his teeth and put all his power in his growl, his alpha demanding his defeated beta to bow to him.  
  
It had gone completely quiet in the clearing. If Jared wouldn’t submit, it was over.  
  
Sure, he could still claim and take him, others wouldn’t hesitate for even a second, but it wouldn’t be the same thing, not for him. Jensen didn’t think he could do it. If Jared truly didn’t want him, he’d rather forfeit than do what was his right and constrain him to a bond with him.  
  
His growl changed to a low whine and he looked at Jared pleadingly, trying to tell him with his eyes how much he wanted him, how much he loved him.  
  
Jared stayed still a little longer, then he first bared his neck in submission, before turning around, sinking down to his front legs and presenting his rear to Jensen. For a moment Jensen couldn’t move, overwhelmed with relief and desire, then he surged forward and climbed on Jared’s back.  
  
His dick was fully emerged from it’s sheath and there was no time for foreplay, for tenderness. He had waited long enough, had waited for _years_ , ever since he’d entered puberty and popped his knot he’d waited for Jared to finally grow up and of course the brat had tortured him by taking longer than anyone, but now he was finally his. His to claim, his to fuck, his to _love_.  
  
Jensen bit down into Jared’s neck again, gentler this time to keep him still, lined up his dick with his opening and finally sank into his mate’s wet, tight heat.  
  
There weren’t words.  
  
There was nothing but Jared, Jared’s scent and heat surrounding him, his heart beating under him and then his impatient whine when Jensen didn’t move.  
  
Jensen pulled back and slammed in, deep and hard and Jared arched his spine and howled. Jensen started a frenzied rhythm, no finesse or technique to it, but Jared didn’t seem to mind. He was whining and writhing under Jensen, pushing back with every thrust, his front paws clawing the ground.  
  
Jared felt so good around him, so wet and hot, his hole gripping him tight and Jensen had never imagined it could be like this. He lost himself in the glorious friction around his dick, the way his mate’s muscles clenched around him every time he pushed in deep.  
  
The physical pleasure alone set his body on fire, but he was so close to Jared, finally one with him, every thrust bringing them closer together, sealing their bond.  
  
Jensen could feel his knot swelling and his inner alpha howled at the thought of knotting his mate, pumping him full of his seed and marking him as his own. He was so close, there was no time to draw it out and he started to grind his hips.  
  
Jared’s whines were getting higher and he was pushing back more insistently. Jensen’s knot was pushing against his mate’s slick entrance, caught on the rim and then it completely slipped inside.  
  
He threw his head back and howled in triumph while he came deep inside his mate. He could feel Jared clench around him with the power of his own orgasm and it sent another wave of pleasure through him.  
  
He was distantly aware of the rest of the pack joining in, howling their joy and passion to the moon, but he couldn’t care less.  
  
He had enough presence of mind not to just fall down on Jared, but shift so that they were lying on their sides, still firmly tied together. He licked a stripe over the bite on his mate’s neck, moved his lips lazily and gave himself over to the pleasure when Jared came a second time, milking his cock with the force of it and making Jensen spurt another round of come into his body.  
  
  
They lay like that for a while, around them the sounds of the pack alleviating their own tension. Eventually the noises died off and they were alone in the clearing. It was quiet, nothing to hear but the sounds of the night and their own heartbeats.  
  
Jensen could smell Jared, still the same intoxicating scent of minehomemate, but it had shifted ever so slightly, incorporating a note of himself into it. Everybody would be able to smell that Jared was his beta and no other alpha would dare to look at his mate ever again. This knowledge soothed the possessiveness inside of him, so much stronger than before. They were truly mates now, forever bound together and that certainty made his heart swell.  
  
Jensen had never knotted anyone before and it was Jared’s first heat, so it was not surprising it took longer. Jensen relaxed and let nature take his course, his dick spurting round after round of come into Jared’s body even though betas rarely got pregnant during their first heat.  
  
It was a time designed by mother nature to mate and to claim and to cement their bond. Breeding would come later.  
  
Jensen closed his eyes, breathing in deeply and enjoyed cataloging the subtle changes in Jared’s scent as it slowly turned from unmated beta to claimed mate.  
  
  
Jensen must have dozed off at sometime, but he woke up again when Jared was tugging on his deflating knot.  
  
Good thinking, they should separate, go back to Jensen’s place and then continue to fuck their brains out, preferably in their human forms. Not that this hadn’t been great, but Jensen really wanted to kiss Jared, wanted to see his beautiful human body and hear him scream Jensen’s name when he came.  
  
Jared’s heat still hung like a cloud around his head, the desire to fuck him still as insistent as before, only now he knew how amazing it truly was.  
  
Jared finally slipped free from his knot, sending another wave of pleasure through him, but Jared was swaying a little bit, so Jensen rushed to his mate’s side to steady him with his body. For one perfect moment they stood like that, leaning against each other, hearts beating in sync and then Jared looked up at him with an undecipherable expression on his face.  
  
Jensen leaned in to nuzzle his mate’s neck, but Jared drew away, looking clearly torn, dancing on his paws like he didn’t know which way to go. Of course, his mate wanted to leave.  
  
Jensen started in the direction of the town and after a short moment Jared followed. They ran through the forest at an easy pace and even though Jensen’s whole body still hurt, even with werewolf healing it would take him a couple of days to fully recuperate, he had never felt so good in his life.  
  
His inner alpha was almost purring with the satisfaction of having claimed Jared and he wanted to do nothing else than fortify that claim over and over again. Jared had submitted to him, so he had obviously forgiven him for that day in the park and as soon as they reached his house they could start their life together.  
  
Jensen had no doubts that there were many fights to come but he was also pretty sure that they would have amazing make-up sex every time. He felt his dick twitch again and after looking over at Jared to make sure he was okay, he picked up the speed.  
  
  
Once they arrived at his house, Jensen immediately shifted. He was still covered in dirt and blood, so he probably should take a shower first. It was hard to concentrate though, with Jared’s delicious scent surrounding him.  
  
He tried to focus and headed into the house, Jared slowly following still in his wolf form. He looked expectantly at him but Jared made no move to shift.  
  
“I should take a shower and you look like you need one, too. Wanna join me?” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and Jared took a step back.  
  
Jensen wanted to hit himself. He had just taken Jared’s virginity in a clearing in front of the whole pack and now he was proposing shower sex. Way to be classy, Ackles. They hadn’t even made love on a _bed_ yet.  
  
It was just so _difficult_ to think clearly, with his dick half hard between his legs and almost every part of his mind busy concentrating on not just bending Jared over the next available surface.  
  
“Sorry, not appropriate. We still need to shower though, you need to get cleaned up, too and I promise to behave.”  
  
When Jared still didn’t shift, Jensen started to worry. “You okay, baby? Can you shift? Because you’re freaking me out a little bit here.”  
  
Jared’s ears twitched but he shifted, transforming his beautiful wolf body into his stunning human one. Jensen couldn’t tear his eyes away.  
  
“God, you’re so beautiful.”  
  
His dick was getting harder still and he realized too late that when Jared started walking, he wasn’t walking towards him, but towards the stairs.  
  
“I’m gonna go shower. Alone!”  
  
Jensen watched his mate’s tight, perfect ass as he climbed the stairs, completely perplexed, having no idea what the hell was going on.  
  
  
  
Jared was standing in the shower, just letting the water wash over him. He had cleaned up a while ago and the water had turned cold by now, but he didn’t feel the cold because the heat was still surging through his body.  
  
He was still trying to make sense of what had happened tonight.  
  
The way Jensen had fought for him, the way he’d looked at him the whole night, like Jared was the only reason to stay alive. And then after he had claimed him by bite, he had still given him the choice to submit voluntarily.  
  
Jared had stood there, blood trickling out of the claiming bite, feeling finally so close to completeness, the power of Jensen’s claim surrounding him, filling him up and Jensen had just waited for him to accept him. Jensen had given him an out.  
  
Doubt had made him hesitate, the day in the park coming back to him, how Jensen’s eyes had been filled with disgust and he’d wondered if Jensen was giving him an out because he didn’t really want him.  
  
But then Jensen had whined, low and pleading, flattening his ears and ducking to the ground, making himself look smaller and not like a threat.  
  
Jared had just caved. There had been no other option.  
  
He needed Jensen like he needed air, couldn’t imagine a life without him and everything else had been irrelevant.  
  
The moment Jensen finally entered him, all the doubts just disappeared. There was nothing but Jensen, his mate, claiming him and loving him, taking him apart and putting him back together at the same time and for the first time in his life he’d felt whole.  
  
Then Jensen had started to fuck him and all conscious thought had vanished, only white hot pleasure left cursing through his body.  
  
Now, he was here in Jensen’s house and he was still confused. A horrifying thought crept into Jared’s mind. What if Jensen still didn’t like Jared and he had only claimed him because they were true mates? Their bodies were drawn to each other, but what about their hearts? What if Jensen would never truly love him?  
  
  
  
Jensen took a quick shower in the way too small downstairs bathroom, put on some old jeans and then paced up and down the living-room, waiting for Jared to show up.  
  
It felt like Jared was showering forever and Jensen started to get nervous. What if Jared hadn’t forgiven him after all? He was one stubborn kid and Jensen had humiliated him. And lied to him. And possibly prolonged his heat by two years.  
  
Yeah, Jared had every right to be pissed.  
  
When the water shut off and minutes later Jared came down, dressed in some of Jensen’s ratty old sweats and his favorite AC/DC shirt, his jaw set in that stubborn line Jensen knew all too well, he reckoned that they were going to have their first fight right now.  
  
He opened his mouth to say something placating, explain why he’d done what he’d done, but then Jared’s scent hit him again.  
  
Here in his home, where no other smells were intruding, Jared’s freshly cleaned scent hit him like a brick wall. It was just as potent as before but not tainted by anything else. It was pure, intoxicating Jared.  
  
Jensen had one more moment to notice how good Jared looked in his clothes, the shirt a little big around the shoulders and the pants a little too short on his long legs and then his possessive alpha instincts kicked in full force and his feet started moving on their own accord. He walked over to Jared, fully intent on finally drawing him into a kiss.  
  
“Don’t touch me!”  
  
Jared swatted Jensen’s hand away and took a couple of steps back even though it looked like it was causing him physical pain to put any distance between him and Jensen.  
  
“Jared, stop being such a brat and come here.” Jensen had exactly zero patience left to deal with this. They could talk afterwards. Right now he needed to knot his mate again.  
  
“Why? You don’t care about me. You’re only doing this because of some twisted biology!”  
  
Jensen couldn’t believe it. How could Jared still doubt him after everything he had been through tonight? “Are you really that stupid? Of course I care about you, baby! I love you, okay? Always have, always will.”  
  
For a moment Jared looked completely stunned and Jensen was just about to take a step forward when the beta opened his mouth again. “But you, I mean, you-”  
  
“I what?” Jensen asked harshly.  
  
Jared looked at him helplessly. “You never looked at me. Not like that.”  
  
“What, was I supposed to make a horny, drooling mess out of myself every time you walked by just like all the other knotheads in the pack?”  
  
“Well no, but it would have been nice to, you know, get some kind of reaction. Just so I knew you wanted me, too.”  
  
“Yeah well, with the way you were flirting with every goddamn alpha in town I wasn’t all that sure I was the one you wanted. You could have talked to me, you know!”  
  
At the accusation Jared’s face hardened. “Oh yeah? I was a confused sixteen-year old, _you_ were the adult. You should have talked to me!”  
  
Jensen rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess we were both pretty stupid.”  
  
Jared didn’t answer that and for a moment they stood there, just staring at each other, tension building until Jensen thought he could taste it on his tongue. His dick was hard in his pants and with every breath he inhaled more of Jared’s tantalizing scent.  
  
He needed to fuck his beta right the fuck now, but Jared was looking at him with that insecure, hurt expression again. Jensen didn’t know how much longer he would be able to take this.  
  
“So you really love me?” Jared asked, voice small. “Even though I’m just a stupid little kid?”  
  
“I do. And you’re not a stupid little kid. An infuriating brat maybe, but you’re not stupid and you’re definitely not so little anymore.”  
  
Jensen was just noticing how true that was, Jared had probably grown another inch since his heat started, he was almost as tall as Jensen now.  
  
“But then why....” Jared broke off, doubt still plainly etched into his features and Jensen needed to wipe it off, make it better, right now.  
  
“Why what?”  
  
“That day in the park, you said-”  
  
“I didn’t mean that, Jared! I lied to get you to stop!”  
  
Jared scrunched up his nose adorably. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why didn’t you just tell me to stop?”  
  
Jensen threw his hands up in frustration. “I did! But you didn’t listen, oh no, you just had to have it your way. And I couldn’t break the rules like that.”  
  
“But the way you looked at me, like you were disgusted with me...” Jared’s voice trailed off.  
  
“Shit, baby no, not with you! How could you even think that? I was disgusted with myself, because I was so fucking weak! Jared, if I hadn’t said those things to stop you I wouldn’t have been able to. I would have fucked you right there on that park bench!”  
  
“Oh.”  
  
“Yeah, oh. Now come here,” Jensen ordered.  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Because I finally want to kiss my mate.”  
  
Slowly a sultry smile spread over Jared’s face.  
  
“We still need to talk about how you ruined two years of our lives by staying away from me,” Jared said as he stepped into Jensen’s arms.  
  
“Sure,” Jensen replied and drew him into a deep kiss.  
  
Kissing Jared was everything he remembered and more. His wide lips were so soft and pliable under his, opening up immediately and then he could push his tongue into Jared’s hot mouth. His mate’s tongue pressed deliciously against his own and the taste of his mate was making him dizzy. He really needed to fuck Jared now.  
  
There was just one thing he needed to say first. “As soon as we talk about how you paraded your hot, perky ass all over town for those two years.”  
  
Jared grinned at him and rubbed his body all along Jensen’s. Holy fuck.  
  
“You liked it.”  
  
Jensen shut Jared up with another kiss, but the beta pulled back again and the familiar teasing expression, the one that had driven Jensen crazy for the last two years, was back on his mate’s face.  
  
“So you just want to kiss me?”  
  
Oh, it was _on_.

 

 


	6. Epilogue - Glow

 

Jensen woke up to soft touches traipsing over his back.  
  
Wait, touches didn’t traipse. Fingers. Yeah, no, finger didn’t traipse either. But they were doing something.  
  
Jared. Jared’s fingers were moving over his back in a traipsing fashion. Ha!  
  
After his sleep-addled brain had figured out the what, he still needed the why. He started turning around, but the hand on his back stopped him, pressing him into the mattress.  
  
“Don’t move,” his mate ordered, sounding far too awake for this hour.  
  
The touching resumed and it was actually more like a tipping or a pointing or something.  
  
“Whatcha doin?” he tried to ask, voice rough with sleep.  
  
“Shhh, concentrating here,” Jared whispered and what the fuck?  
  
Jensen tried to move again, but he was pushed down again, with two hands this time and Jared growled low in his throat. “I said don’t move! This is important!”  
  
Jensen felt himself growl in response, it was a basic alpha instinct to answer to your mate’s challenge and so shortly after waking up he had no control over it.  
  
“Baby, if you don’t want me to-”  
  
“Shhh,” Jared hushed him again and then one hand was on the back of his head, softly scratching behind his ear, nails digging in deliciously on the downward stroke and fingertips gently ruffling his hair on the way back up.  
  
Oh yeah, Jared needed to concentrate. Jensen should totally let his mate do his thing and shut up.  
  
A low rumble made its way out of his chest, he heard Jared chuckle quietly behind him and Jensen let himself drift back into that floating space between wakefulness and sleep, guided by his mate’s skilled fingers.  
  
  
“One hundred and seventy-eight!”  
  
Jensen woke with a start, head snapping up painfully. “What?”  
  
He looked around the room in panic, where was the threat?  
  
“You have one hundred and seventy-eight freckles on your back!” Jared exclaimed happily from behind him.  
  
For a moment Jensen’s mind was blank, then it clicked. Jared had been counting his freckles.  
  
He groaned and let himself fall back face first on the bed. He took a deep breath to calm himself, while Jared settled back in against him, using his shoulders as a pillow.  
  
“Jaybird, baby, you know I love you, right? You’re the light of my life and I would do anything in my power to make you as happy as possible.”  
  
“I know, you big sap.” Jensen could hear the smile in Jared’s voice.  
  
“Good. Then keep in mind that I say this with all the love and devotion I’m capable of, but if you ever, ever wake me up again at ass o’clock on a Sunday morning after I’ve come home from three weeks of patrolling and fighting, I will throw your hot, perky ass straight out of the bed, got it?”  
  
Jared buried his face in the nape of Jensen’s neck and was silent. Jensen started to worry that he had maybe chosen the wrong tone but then he felt Jared’s whole body start to vibrate against his own.  
  
What the- oh no, no way!  
  
“Are you _laughing_?”  
  
Jared raised his head and his ringing laughter sounded through their bedroom. “I’m so sorry, it’s just, you’re so fucking adorable when you’re grumpy in the morning!”  
  
Jensen growled and flipped around, bringing his arms around Jared and pinning him to the mattress.  
  
Jared squealed indignantly and playfully hit his arms. “Let go of me, you brutish brute!”  
  
Jensen had to fight to keep his expression serious. “You think I’m adorable? I, Jensen Ackles, am the most feared warrior in all of Texas, the biggest and baddest alpha there is! And if you don’t know what that means, well I’m going to show you exactly what that means!” His voice dipped down low at the end and Jared let his head fall back on the pillow, wrapped his long, long legs around Jensen’s waist and looked at Jensen through hooded eyes.  
  
“Yes, please.”  
  
Jensen smirked. “Ask me again. Nicely.”  
  
Jared’s eyes narrowed momentarily, but then he made them big and pleading, looking at Jensen through his lashes and brought his hands up to grip Jensen’s biceps.  
  
“Please, my big strong alpha, take me! Show me what a great, potent, manly warrior you are and use your giant manhood to plow my delicate little body through the sheets!”  
  
They stared at each other for a moment, Jensen disbelieving and Jared still mock-adoringly and then they simultaneously broke out laughing.  
  
Jensen buried his face in the crook of Jared’s neck and inhaled his mate’s rich scent, all home and love and mine and continued to chuckle.  
  
“God, you’re such a brat.”  
  
He could feel Jared grin against his hair. “Yeah, but I’m _your_ brat.”  
  
“Yeah, you are.”  
  
He brought his mouth up to Jared’s and tasted his mate for the first time of the day. Jared opened up immediately and they continued to kiss lazily, hands slowly and unhurriedly starting to wander.  
  
“Still gonna show me what a big, bad alpha you are?” Jared asked into Jensen’s mouth.  
  
“You gonna let me go back to sleep after?”  
  
Jared grinned. “Anything you want.”  
  
“No, you got that all wrong, baby, anything you want.”  
  
Jared looked at him with burning eyes. “I want you to fuck me. Slow and hard, make me feel it, every stroke, every touch and then knot me and fall asleep still tied to me.”  
  
A shiver went down Jensen’s spine. “Your wish is my command.”  
  
And then he proceeded to do exactly as his mate had told him to.  
  
  
  
Jared loved their bedroom. He liked the whole house in fact, but the bedroom was his favorite room. After their mating he had moved in with Jensen and his alpha had given him free reign to change whatever he liked.  
  
Jared wasn’t big on interior decorating, so nothing much had changed, but he had insisted on a bigger bed. His heat had triggered his latest growth spurt, he was taller than Jensen now and probably still not done growing.  
  
So Jensen had exchanged his queen sized bed for a California king with matching bedside tables and had bought a dresser to go with it. In a fit of domesticity Jared had taken several pictures, framed them and put them up there. There was one big frame with pictures of Jensen with Jeff and Chris, and Jared with Chad, and several group shots from the bar.  
  
Jared’s favorite though was the smaller one standing next to it.  
  
He had made good on his threat and predictably Donna Ackles had not been immune to the puppy dog eyes and had given him a whole batch of embarrassing childhood pictures, not only of Jensen, but also of Jeff. He’d had a field day going through them and torturing Jeff endlessly about the time he had dyed his hair blue.  
  
The picture standing on the dresser, put in a simple white frame, showed Jensen in his wolf form, colorful band-aids all over him, little Jared sitting next to him, squealing with glee and looking at Jensen like he hung the moon.  
  
When Jared looked to his mate’s sleeping form on the bed he thought that nothing much had changed. Jensen still gave him whatever he wanted or needed and Jared still thought the same about him.  
  
Jared could see the moment Jensen woke up again.  
  
“There’s coffee.”  
  
“God, you’re an angel.” Jensen rubbed his face and reached for the mug on his bedside table. “Sorry for sleeping so long.”  
  
Jared waved it aside. “You’re tired, it’s alright. Besides, it’s not exactly a hardship, cuddling up next to you while you sleep. I finished my book.” He pointed at the novel lying on his bedside table.  
  
“Good. You like it?” Jensen asked and leaned back against the headboard and pulled Jared into his arms.  
  
“Yeah, it’s good,” Jared said. He put his head on Jensen’s chest, snuggled in tight and started to draw random patterns with his fingers on Jensen’s stomach.  
  
  
Jensen sipped his coffee and Jared told him all about the book he had just finished. Jensen didn’t particularly like fantasy novels but he loved listening to Jared explain distant worlds and complex plots, adding his own thoughts and comments to it.  
  
When he was done, Jared asked about Jensen’s time on patrol. Brown’s pack had taken up the fighting again after Jensen had killed the Alpha’s son and he had only given Jared the high points last night, before frenziedly fucking him on the kitchen table. And in the shower. And on the couch. And last, but not least, in their bed.  
  
Hey, he’d been gone three weeks and they had only been mated for two months.  
  
“Tom Welling is back in town,” Jared told Jensen.  
  
“Yeah, I had a feeling he might be.”  
  
Jensen’s hand stroked slowly through his hair.  
  
“Did you now?” Jared asked and nuzzled Jensen’s collarbone.  
  
“Hmm. Didn’t have the feeling he was giving his all during the fight. Was the only reason Weatherly was able to beat him.”  
  
Jensen’s voice was still laced a little with sleep and Jared loved lying on his alpha’s chest, listening to his voice rumble underneath him mixed in with his steady heartbeat.  
  
“Hmm. It’s gonna be interesting. I mean, Mike is... Mike. And Welling seems so uptight.”  
  
Jensen chuckled. “Trust me, baby, it’s always the quiet ones.”  
  
Jared lifted his head and looked at Jensen through hooded eyes. “Oh yeah?”  
  
“Mhhm.” Jensen’s hand was wandering down Jared’s back, slowly tracing the ridges of his spine. Jared knew exactly where it was headed and he shivered with anticipation.  
  
“You’re a rather composed and quiet individual yourself most of the time.”  
  
Jensen’s hand had reached the swell of Jared’s ass and he shuddered.  
  
“Usually, yeah.” Jensen’s voice was even rougher now. “But you, god, you don’t even now how hard it is to be close to you and keep it together. I think I spent the last two years of my life with permanent blue balls.”  
  
Jared made a purring sound and shifted in Jensen’s arms so that his chin was resting on his alpha’s chest and his ass fit perfectly into his hand.  
  
“Good thing we can do something about that now.”  
  
Jensen looked at Jared and his lips widened in a feral smile. “Yeah.”  
  
Jensen flipped him around so fast it made him a little dizzy and a surge of pure want went through Jared, because that Jensen could just manhandle him like that was too fucking hot.  
  
They had fucked several times when Jensen got home last night, the first three short affairs to sooth their burning need for each other, only the last time in their bed they had taken the time to rediscover each others bodies. Jared had spent a long time learning the two new scars on Jensen’s body, one on his leg and one on his shoulder and if he could have, he would have gone out there and ripped the wolf apart who had dared to harm his mate.  
  
Earlier in the morning Jensen had done exactly what Jared had asked him to, had slowly fucked him into the mattress and now it was Jared’s turn to play.  
  
He reached up and pulled Jensen’s head down in a kiss. Then he brought his legs up around his mate and rolled them over in one swift movement, straddling Jensen’s hips and pinning his arms to the bed. When Jensen let him, Jared could do some manhandling on his own.  
  
Jensen raised his eyebrows. “Oh, it’s like that, huh?”  
  
Jared hummed affirmatively and started kissing his way up Jensen’s neck. His mate tilted his head to the side to give him more access, but at the same time it was a show of trust and submission that alphas rarely showed, even to their betas.  
  
Jared continued to lavish Jensen’s neck with little kitten licks and soft bites, listening to his mate’s breathing speed up and feeling his dick lengthening between their bodies. Jared’s own dick was hard, rubbing against Jensen and he slowly undulated his hips, making the alpha groan.  
  
He started making his way down his alpha’s body, kissing and licking every bit of skin on his way until he finally reached his dick. Jensen drew in his breath in anticipation and Jared snaked his tongue out, carefully licking a drop of precome from the head.  
  
Jensen’s dick was a thing of beauty and Jared intended to worship it with all the adoration it deserved.  
  
He licked a long stripe up starting at the base, tracing the long vein on the underside and felt Jensen shiver. When he reached the head he gently sucked it into his mouth, relishing the taste of pure Jensen on his tongue.  
  
Jensen moaned but stayed still and that just wouldn’t do. He took Jensen’s whole cock into his mouth, working his tongue together with his lips, and started to suck.  
  
Jensen was panting hard now, his whole body pulled tight like a bow string, but he still held back. It had sort of become Jared’s personal agenda to see how fast he could make him loose control. He sucked harder and cupped Jensen’s balls in his hand, massaging them gently.  
  
“Fuck, baby, so good!”  
  
Jared grinned around Jensen’s dick. When Jensen started talking, he was getting to him. He tongued Jensen’s slit and let his teeth carefully catch on the edge of the head.  
  
“Jesus fucking Christ!”  
  
Jensen’s hips shot up, finally, and Jared drew off with a wet pop and looked up at his mate with reddened and shiny lips. “Yeah, c'mon, Jen, let go.”  
  
Jensen’s hands clutched the sheets and he shook his head. “Don’t, not gonna hurt you.”  
  
Jared growled and took Jensen’s dick back into his mouth. One of these days he would get him to fuck his mouth, see if he didn’t! He sucked harder, bobbing his head down faster and was rewarded with tiny little shoves of Jensen’s hips. His mate was cursing a blue streak now and Jared’s own dick was throbbing between his legs, his hole slick and ready, yearning for his mate’s knot. Jared gripped the base of Jensen’s dick and started massaging it.  
  
“Oh shit, oh fuck, Jay, baby, please, need to,” Jensen was panting like he’d just run a marathon and his hips were pushing up to meet Jared’s mouth.  
  
Jared could feel the knot starting to swell and he drew off, crawled up Jensen’s body until he reached his mouth and kissed him, sharing his taste with him. Jensen’s hand went to his hips instantly, gripping them tight and pulling him down.  
  
“Come on, baby, need to be in you now!”  
  
Jared moaned and reached back, taking Jensen’s dick into his hand and guiding him to his wet opening. He stilled, just enjoyed the blunt pressure for a moment, and then oh so slowly pushed down, taking Jensen inch by glorious inch.  
  
Jensen’s mouth was open and his eyes were closed and he had a look of utter bliss on his face.  
  
“Open your eyes,” Jared commanded.  
  
Jensen did, eyes almost black with lust and his gaze sent another wave of heat through Jared’s body. He raised himself up again until Jensen’s dick was almost all the way out and then slammed down with all his strength.  
  
Jensen let out a hoarse scream. “Holy fuck!”  
  
His nails dug into Jared’s hips, not breaking skin yet and Jared almost lost his mind, Jensen was filling him up so good. He continued to move his hips, riding Jensen’s cock hard and fast, making them both pant and moan with pleasure.  
  
Jensen pulled up his legs and fucked up into Jared with the additional leverage. Jared put his hands on Jensen’s legs and doubled his efforts, slamming down on Jensen’s body so hard he was going to have bruises on his thighs the next day.  
  
He was so close, balls drawn up to his body when he felt Jensen’s knot swelling and pushing against his rim.  
  
He gripped his dick in his hand and heard Jensen groan. He could come from just Jensen’s cock, but his mate loved to see him touch himself, so he started working his cock and grinding his hips, encouraging his mate’s knot to inflate. It pushed almost painfully against his hole, before it slipped inside, the sensation pushing him over the edge, the force of his orgasm hitting him so hard there were spots dancing behind his eyelids and making him spurt long ropes of come over his chest.  
  
Jensen let out a loud groan that sounded like Jared’s name and then he could feel Jensen coming deep inside him, his knot pulsing and come painting his inner walls and that feeling made another orgasm hit Jared on the heels of the first, and he let himself fall back against Jensen’s drawn up knees, focusing on the feeling of his mate filling him up.  
  
After a while his eyes found Jensen’s and his mate had that mixture of content and wonder on his face he always had after they made love. Jared innocently smiled down at his alpha and gathered some of his come from his chest. He saw Jensen’s eyes widening and slowly sucked his fingers into his mouth, licking them clean.  
  
Jensen closed his eyes and groaned. “God, one day you’re gonna kill me.”  
  
Jared felt him spurt another round of come into his body, making his body tingle all over and he chuckled. He leaned down to give Jensen a slow, deep kiss and then settled in on his chest.  
  
“You love me,” he murmured into Jensen’s neck and his alpha let out an assenting noise.  
  
“Doesn’t mean I’m not gonna die 'cause of your hot ass.”  
  
  
After, they lay in each other's arms, back to chest, Jensen pressing soft kisses into his mate’s silky hair and Jared gently stroking his arm. Jensen started to doze off when Jared suddenly broke the silence.  
  
“There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.” Jared’s voice had it’s most serious tone and Jensen’s head snapped up.  
  
“What about?” he asked wearily.  
  
“Well, it’s a toss up if I’ll go into heat this fall or if I’ll skip it, because I already had my heat.”  
  
Oh, okay. “Don’t worry, I’ll be here. I won’t let you go through it alone, no matter what’s going on out there. They can deal without me for a week.”  
  
He pressed a hopefully reassuring kiss to Jared’s shoulder. His skin was so soft, tasted so good, he continued to nibble on it. For a moment Jared leaned back into it, but then he pulled away with a reluctant sound.  
  
“I know. That’s not what this is about, though.”  
  
Jared sounded really anxious now, although he tried to hide it. But the stress was coming off of him in waves and Jensen had no trouble sensing his mate’s distress. Since Jared tried to play it cool he didn’t comment on it, just asked him, “Okay, then what is it?”  
  
His beta drew in a deep breath. “Look, this might be egoistical of me, but I-, I mean I’m only eighteen, you know and not particularly mature and I just don’t think I’m ready. For kids.”  
  
“Okay.”  
  
“It’s not that I don’t want to have kids one day, because I do,” Jared was talking faster and faster now. “But right now, I’m still half a kid myself and I just need to find my place, you know, get some life experience, get a job.”  
  
“That’s-”  
  
“I was thinking the library maybe, you know Mr. Kripke is getting really old and if we could reorganize it, there is so much more we could do with it!” Panic was resonating in Jared’s voice and Jensen was getting really worried now because he had no idea what the problem was.  
  
“Baby, that sounds-”  
  
“And we just mated and I know that it’s selfish, but I want to have you all for myself for a little while longer!”  
  
“Jaybird,” Jensen tried again, but Jared still wasn’t done.  
  
“Please don’t make me have kids right now, Jen. I promise, next heat or, or maybe the one after that if you want, but please not yet!”  
  
Jensen was shocked. “Baby, what makes you think I would force you to try to get pregnant if you don’t want to?”  
  
“It’s your right,” Jared said in a tight voice. “It’s an alpha’s right. I can’t be on birth control if you don’t allow it.”  
  
Jensen sighed. Unfortunately, technically, Jared was right. This old custom was discouraged in their pack, but it was still practiced in a lot of other packs and Jensen was sure it even happened in theirs occasionally. Despite all of their best efforts, betas were still not completely emancipated.  
  
He pulled Jared against his chest and put a hand on his lower belly. “Jared, this is your body. That means it’s your decision when and if you want to get pregnant. Sure, I can tell you what I want, but ultimately it’s up to you. After all, you’re the one who is going to be carrying around a little pup for seven months. So, when you feel ready, be it during your next heat, whenever that will be, or next year or maybe even in five years, you tell me and I will be honored to do my best to get you pregnant. Until then, it’ll just be the two of us and honestly, I can see the appeal in that.”  
  
He pressed another kiss to Jared’s shoulder and his mate let out a half-sob, half-chuckle. “God, you’re such a sap!”  
  
Jensen grinned. “Yeah, but I’m _your_ sap.”  
  
Jared turned around in his arms and literally kissed the air out of him. “I love you. So fucking much.”

 

 


End file.
